Sing Me A Song
by saya-chan21
Summary: Naruto found out that his boyfriend of eight years got a girl pregnant. Not one to deprive a kid of their own father, he chose to break things off; ignoring his own broken heart. Then a gentleman came and took his mind off the hurtful things by... well, singing him sweet songs.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Naruto found out that his boyfriend of eight years got a girl pregnant. Not one to deprive a kid of their own father, he chose to break things off; ignoring his own broken heart. Then a gentleman came and took his mind off the hurtful things by... well, singing him sweet songs.

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Warning: AU / Yaoi (boyxboy) / SasuNaru (A bit ooc Sasuke)  
I'm just a rookie so I don't have any idea what a songfic is or how it is written. If anyone could tell, it is highly appreciated. I included some song lyrics in this fic that can probably give some of you goose bumps because, really, even I think that it's a bit too corny. But I need this for the plot, so spare me! *wink*

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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CHAPTER 1

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A peaceful night with a fine wine and a bag of surprise gift he had prepared the day before; Neji smiled to himself again as he thought of how he'd meet his lover again after being separated for almost a month. Business trips sucks and he never even had any time to at least call his sweetheart when all he wanted to do was to hear their lovely voice. The wait is over, though. They arranged to meet tonight; he even booked them a hotel room for the... _main event_.

Suddenly, a hand slammed against the sheeted table where he sat, getting almost everyone's attention as Neji spilled his wine in shock.

"When were you going to tell me about this?" the angry voice of his lover can be heard in a hushed tone.

"Naruto." the Neji looked up; confusion clear in his eyes that changed drastically as he recognize the girl beside the blonde. "H-How?"

"You ignore her calls so she had no one else to rely on anymore. She came to me directly for help. She's pregnant, and you're the father." the blonde spat the words, dropping a folder of some documents on the table. He was sure that whoever it was sitting beside the table he was at heard everything the blonde just said with the way they stopped stirring their beverage.

Suddenly being washed with panic and disbelief, the brunette stood up – about to defend himself to get out of suspicion. He stopped, though, as he realized something. Naruto would never jump to conclusions; he never judged people and always see to it that he had enough facts before believing certain things. He can never be blinded by jealousy either, nor he would lie about something that could hurt others.

The brunette swallowed a lump that had started to form in his throat; trying to find the right words that would prevent his boyfriend from leaving him. Desperately. He knew he fucked up and that there's no way out, but he can't handle a break up. He loved Naruto deeply. Seriously.

Seeing the various changes in the eyes of his boyfriend, or should he still really think of him like that? Naruto hissed dangerously, making sure his voice is in moderate volume.

"Neji, you will fix this and you will make sure that you'll take full responsibility. The girl needs you, the baby needs you, they are now your family, and we both know how hard life is without a parent. I am so not going to deprive this kid of a father; and we both know you think the same." the blonde said, determined to end the confrontation with that in regards of the people around the restaurant. Neji was about to say something, anything just to stop Naruto from ending their relationship of eight years. Eight years of being in love with each other and going out on and off. Eight years of running and chasing. Eight years of unending promises.

He couldn't believe that he is about to lose his blonde, and is Naruto really alright with this? They have been away from each other for almost a month because Neji had to go on a business trip. Tonight is supposed to be a romantic night with luxurious dinner; he even booked them a room for a wonderful night with his lover and he had been anticipating that the other felt the same longing, only to have this kind of surprise. No, he can't let go of Naruto. Not now, not ever.

"Naruto, please... You have to listen to me." Any other time, he would've cursed himself for sounding so desperate. His hands are now on slender tanned wrists and he could feel the other shaking violently; a spark of hope appeared out of nowhere. "Naruto, I-"

"No, Neji. Don't. It isn't even about me anymore. It isn't about us anymore." the blonde's words were strong and firm, leaving no room for arguments. Neji clearly heard that the 'us' that Naruto was talking about isn't there anymore. That there were no more him and Naruto. "Sit down and talk it over. Make sure you'd take care of her. You know how sensitive pregnancy is. Make sure you stay with her all the time."

The blonde turned to look at the girl who is now sobbing quietly, her hands shaking at her side. He gave a sad smile and patted her shoulder, steering her to sit in front of Neji. Neji was looking straight at Naruto, still not acknowledging the fact that he just lost his lover in less than twenty minutes of their reunion. He heard Naruto tell the girl how responsible a man Neji is and that he would take care of her so she doesn't have to worry. The girl seemed to know how things are between them and obviously feeling uncomfortable about being the reason they had to break up this way. Pale eyes widened when he saw Naruto smile, words not registering in his mind.

That smile. Oh, how would he miss that perfect smile. How can he smile so bright in this situation? For all Neji knew, Naruto's world was crushing down more than what he could ever imagine.

Then the blonde threw him a look, expectation clear in his blue orbs. He felt like he had been slapped, hard; though the blonde hadn't really done anything physical. He just felt like the way he had been coldly pushed to the responsibility hurt more than a couple of slaps or punches. He honestly thought, though, that he preferred those more than anything if it meant not having the blonde leave his side.

* * *

Sasuke just finished having a dinner meeting with one of his clients, when his attention got caught by a blonde guy who stormed his way to one of the tables inside the hotel restaurant. A girl not older than twenty five walked nervously behind him; eyes swollen from crying. A drama was about to happen.

A hand slammed against the sheeted table, bringing almost everyone's attention as the blonde confronted the guy with long brown hair.

"When were you going to tell me about this?" the angry voice of the blonde erupted, but he spoke in a hushed tone; Sasuke was near enough to overhear it, though. It's not like he intended to listen, though.

"Naruto." the brunette looked up; confusion clear in his eyes that changed drastically when he recognized the girl beside the blonde. "H-How?"

"You ignore her calls so she had no one to rely on anymore and came to me directly for help. She's pregnant, and you're the father. " the blonde spat the words, dropping a folder of some documents of the table. Sasuke stopped stirring his new cup of coffee and curiously glanced sideways. He saw the girl about to burst into tears again.

He stopped paying attention and calmly drank his coffee. He can still hear some words being said because he is too close, even though the blonde's voice is hushed and almost only hissing. It made his night even worse though. He just finished important meeting on a Friday fucking night. All he wanted was to finish his own meal quietly, get home to take a long soak and lie on his bed's soft mattress. Thinking of his room made him long for it more. He decided to end his meal and go home.

He accidentally heard something that made him halt his movements when he was about to stand up.

"No, Neji. Don't. It isn't even about me anymore. It isn't about us anymore." he could tell that the blonde is never going to leave any room for the other to insist what he's about to say. Did he hear it right? That statement, it implied that the blonde guy and the brunette one were together. So the blonde found out that his boyfriend was cheating and now he is breaking up when he found enough proof?

Complicated.

Sasuke never really understood what... affection really was. He never experienced feeling something special for someone before; hell, as far as he knew, Uchiha never do romance. He lived his entire twenty five years without having even a girlfriend. He had dated before but found everyone boring or rather suspicious of them being gold-diggers, so he just stopped totally and never had anyone since then.

He doesn't have any idea just how one could possibly feel towards another. Of course he loved his family, they're connected by blood after all. That; he understood. But between him and other people? Impossible.

Another obvious exchange of glances occurred between the blonde and the brunette before the blonde guy made his way out of the restaurant. So the confrontation ended there? He was sure the next thing to happen is that the long hair will leave the girl and run after the blonde; like what he see in most of the drama series his mother watched. Of course, between a guy and a girl. But none of that happened; instead, the brunette sat down and asked the girl to have some drink and get some food before they talk.

An adult; he thought. There are more important things than petty emotions; that, he agreed more with the brunette. The raven wasn't sure why he even bothered listening to other people's conversation, (though he can't even call it listening if they're inside a restaurant where people normally eat, and he just happen to be right beside their table) but there was something that made him tilt his head mentally in confusion.

If one feel strongly for another, and that someone knew that their feelings were mutual; would they be willing to let them go? Were they really alright with that small exchange of words? Or was it the opposite? Maybe they're tired of each other and they finally found a way to naturally end up their relationship? He didn't know. He didn't care. He got up to pay for his bill and left for the men's room, then he planned to go straight home.

* * *

Walking, no, running; Naruto panicked when he felt a drop of something wet at the back of his hand. The men's room was right around the corner; he turned and went in, going straight into a cubicle before a sob erupted from his throat.

He was in hell all this time. The few weeks Neji was away, he had been keeping the thing about the girl who suddenly went up to talk to him outside their shared apartment one morning. It was three days after Neji went to the United States for work. She had been crying while telling him how they met and what happened. Not one to immediately jump to action despite his internal turmoil, he asked the girl to go with him to the hospital and have the baby checked, and also... a DNA test. It wasn't hard to find a strand of long brown hair on their bed.

Another two weeks passed when he received the results. Positive results. And he knew right then and there that his relationship with Neji was over. They might have felt strong for each other for last the eight years they had, but the wall that fate decided to put between them is high and strong. Never to be torn down.

It doesn't mean he was alright, though. He was furious. About that girl, about Neji, about everything. Above all else, he was furious about himself. He was furious of his own incompetency, he knew he was too kind to push his love away to be together with the girl he cheated with. He was hurt and will have no one to rely on. Not a single soul, not even a shoulder to cry on.

Another sob, and he was sure he was heard by whoever it was that went inside the men's room. He didn't care. Time to go home.

* * *

Sasuke was drying his hands with the paper towel when the door to one of the cubicles inside the men's room burst open; revealing the blonde haired guy he saw at the restaurant earlier. He casually threw the used paper in the trash bin; eyes fixated at the swelled eyes of the shorter male.

"You held on quite well back there." the Uchiha heard himself saying; hitting his own damn head mentally when he realized he just made a conversation out of the blue. His self-conversation ended quickly, though, when he heard a throaty laugh erupt from the person beside him. The blonde occupied the space next to the raven and washed his own hands before washing his face, too. He seemed to halt his movements when he noticed he had nothing to wipe the wetness off his face, so Sasuke offered his neatly ironed white handkerchief and Naruto just looked up to stare straight at the Uchiha; black meeting blue as they look at each other properly.

Sasuke stared and noticed some of the water about to drop and probably wet the blonde's clothes, so he moved quickly and unconsciously caressed the blonde's left jaw with the handkerchief in his right hand and wiped the water off. He stopped when a tan hand held the handkerchief and the blonde finished the job himself, pale hand suddenly getting back to the side of its owner.

"Thanks. So you were there, huh? Heh... Must've ruined your night. Sorry." Naruto waved him off; intending to leave the conversation at that. He offered the handkerchief back to Sasuke and left the men's room fluidly. Sasuke stared at the closing door, his hands gripping the handkerchief. It was wet. But he wondered, how much of its wetness was water and how much was tears? The answer was obvious, but somehow he thought that the tears were greater than the amount of water. Those sad cerulean orbs must've shed a lot of tears, he bet. Yet still, he could smile a perfect smile. Even if that smile was for show, it looked perfect for Sasuke.

Not willing to have the conversation end just like that, the raven walked briskly out of the men's room and proceeded to the elevator. He didn't know what's gotten into him, all he could think about was how much he wanted to talk with the blonde more. Turning a corner, his eyes caught on the mop of blonde hair that went inside the elevator as soon as the door opened. He almost ran towards the elevator, hands reaching for the currently closing doors.

Blue eyes shot up at the slightly dishevelled appearance of the guy he met at the rest room. He immediately pushed the 'open' button of the controls and the door opened wide, letting the raven in. They stood face-to-face as Sasuke pushed the 'close' button and pressed for the basement.

"A drink." Sasuke said as he panted out the words, large pale hands brushed over his bangs to keep himself somehow upright. He saw the confused look the blonde gave him and he found it... cute. Wait, what's wrong with him? A guy being cute?  
"You could use some alcohol in your system to rid the frustration. I say we go for a drink. My treat."

Naruto didn't expect some stranger to just suddenly offer him a drink like this, not in this situation where he knew that the guy witnessed his embarrassing 'break up' moments with his boyfriend - no, his ex- several minutes ago. Sasuke looked at him straight in the eye, and he saw something in those dark orbs. What was it, he cannot put his hand on it. All he knew is that he can't take advantage of someone's kindness just to rid of the pain he was currently in. But more than that:

"Thanks. I appreciate the offer, but I don't drink when I'm frustrated. I learned the lesson once when I lost myself drinking my frustrations away, and it gave me a really big scar on my left leg. Apparently, I had an accident in my own house but I don't remember a single thing. And the headache. I can't stand headaches." he chuckled at the memory of her mother who had the broom in her hands when he came home from the hospital with gauges on his left leg.

The elevator made a sound, reminding them that they arrived at the basement. It was strange that no one aside from the two entered the elevator from the thirtieth floor down to the basement.

"Thanks again." Naruto smiled again, the same smile he offered Sasuke inside the restroom. A smile that the raven was sure Naruto used to hide away any trace of sadness he felt. And he found himself not liking that kind of smile. Strong hands wrapped around Naruto's slender arms and halted his movement.

Sasuke was also as surprised as Naruto was when he reached out to stop the blonde from going. He cleared his throat and stood up straight, hands slowly letting go of the blonde. Naruto also stood straight and looked at Sasuke with confused eyes.

What the hell am I doing?

Sasuke asked himself. What is it that he wanted with the blonde? Why did he insist prolonging the time to talk?

 _The guy just broke up with his boyfriend. He would think strange if I try to offer him drinks._

But really, Sasuke just wanted to know... How...

"I don't understand how you can cry like that for some other people..." He blurted out almost immediately as soon as the thought crossed his mind. He shouldn't have asked such a thing; he shouldn't even have the need to. He was never interested in love and any other troublesome affections, so why now? And why ask a guy he just met?

He was about to take his words back and apologize for being strange when a bubble of laughter erupted from none other than the blonde in front of him. Blue eyes shining, cheeks a bit red, and toothily smiling at him, his breath was taken away when the words left those sinful lips.

"Try falling in love, and you'll understand."

Simple words. Just those simple words made Sasuke feel those things he'd seen and read in some movies and novels. The feeling one could have when they see something different from a certain person. The loud beating of the heart, throat drying, mind getting blank; are these all the signs?

He heard the blonde chuckle again, a forefinger brushed away the remaining drop of tears in his eyes. Naruto was shaking slightly as he tried stopping himself from giggling. Damn, Sasuke could grow fond of this laugh. Seriously.

It seemed that he'd managed to make the blonde laugh a little despite having his heart break that same evening. He felt his own lips quirk in a knowing smirk, making the blonde turn to him and make a pouting face.

"Bastard, don't you laugh at me." Naruto said as he huffed, crossing his arms in the process. The blonde calling him names wasn't taken seriously and Sasuke just smirked again, causing Naruto to grin. The very first genuine smile he'd seen. Sasuke noticed one of the cars approaching their way just behind the blonde and before he knew it, he gently steered Naruto away from the vehicle; hand on the blonde's slender waist.

Naruto automatically grabbed at the raven's right arm when he saw the car passing them. Sasuke felt the hand on his arm let go immediately, but his own ones lingered a bit longer than they should; liking the way his hand felt like it fits perfectly at the small of Naruto's back.

Sasuke knew he had to ask, or this night would be the last night they'd see each other. All plans of going home and head straight for his bed had flown out the window. He needed to know more about the blonde. Not a _want,_ but a _need._

"My offer still stands, though... It can be a tea or coffee... Anything you want to have." he didn't mind how gentlemanly he had been towards another guy, he just felt right treating the blonde kindly.

Naruto looked a bit suspicious about the offer, because there's no way in hell that a stranger -and a guy at that- would just come up to you and offer you a drink after they witness you breaking up with yet another guy. Especially if they are as good-looking and well-dressed as Sasuke. Still, the raven looked hopeful, and it wouldn't hurt to have some company for the evening; even though all they have to do is probably drink that tea or talk.

Sasuke noticed the doubt swam through those blue orbs. Of course he'd look suspicious; it wasn't in his intentions in the beginning, but he is actually hitting on a guy who just broke up with their lover. Even so, he wanted to push his luck. He wanted to know more about Naruto and try this... romance... thing he was talking about. He didn't feel anything like that before. He didn't feel the need to continuously hear someone's voice before or had the urge to always wrap his arms around another human being before. He didn't feel this excited about the thought of being together with anyone before. All these feelings, he wanted so badly to accept them; and he was sure that Naruto can give it to him. He didn't understand why, but he just felt like this was right. That this person was the right one. And he won't ever let the chance slip.

About to say another word to convince the blonde, he stopped when the shorter one spoke again.

"Karaoke."

Sasuke blinked. He knew his expression changed for a split-second, a very different expression from his usual stoic and expressionless face. He raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in the blonde's expression. Naruto was now smiling at him with that warm look; that was the second time he'd seen the blonde smile so bright it made his heart skip a beat.

"Take me to the Karaoke instead and sing me song."

 _What?!_

Sasuke never sang, at least not in front of people, and that was what, eight years ago? Uchiha never sang. No. _But_ …

"Sure." he felt the sides of his lip turn upwards when he saw Naruto's eyes getting wide, sparkling and an ear-to-ear grin graced his lips. That looked so damn cute.

Because he had no idea where to go and how a karaoke even looked like, Naruto guided him along the way with his car. The blonde had his own one, but Sasuke insisted to drive there together. It would be weird to go in separate cars after all.

* * *

After almost twenty minutes of driving, they reached the place. It looks fine; a building especially made for paid parking. The karaoke was just on the ground floor and it wasn't like any other karaoke place where students go because of the cheap price, this one was more private and secure; rooms are built thicker so no sounds could ever pass to the other rooms.

Naruto went to the front desk to ask for a room. They got themselves one right away with free time (it means they will be charged based on the length of hours they stayed) and was led by a guy to the room. Sasuke noticed the way the guy's lust-filled eyes linger along Naruto's back, and he felt a sudden urge to protect the blonde; hooking his right arm around those thin waist and sending the guy a deathly glare. The guy swallowed nervously as he open the door to their room and left them alone after bowing his head politely.

Naruto felt the guy's weird glances and unnecessary light touches when they were in the front desk so he was grateful for Sasuke when he felt those strong arms around his waist protectively. He could never understand what guys think whenever they send those kind of signals to him; he's not a girl and he hated being treated like one. Those kind of guys seem to think otherwise it seemed and treat him one anyway; flirting with him boldly, offering him gifts like chocolates and flowers. It sucked. Really. Neji was one of those guys the first time they met. He was told that the brunette fell in love at first sight. It was forced courting, all on Neji's side. Fetching him from his house, buying him lunch, and going home from school together; sending him home and calling him every weekends.

With Sasuke, though, it felt different. It almost felt natural, like his body was compatible with the other's light touches and the warmth that it brought. Even now, when Sasuke was helping him take off his jacket to hang it neatly; it felt so natural that he found himself smiling. Having the raven accompany him tonight after his awful break-up with Neji made him feel better despite knowing how this night is probably a first and last night with the guy. He couldn't wish for anything more; just for tonight is fine, because he didn't think he could get through it alone.

Sitting and grabbing the song list gadget, he half-heartedly searched for a song. What song he was looking for, he didn't know. He just wanted to draw out his voice like he didn't care for the world.

On the other hand, Sasuke was flipping through the menu that was on the table. During their drive, he heard the slight sound of a stomach growling and he was sure it wasn't his. He wondered what Naruto would like to eat when he saw the pizza set menu that includes a medium-sized pizza with fried potatoes, bite-size chicken and two sets of drinks.

He stood up to use the phone beside the door and ordered. When he was done, he noticed how Naruto lazily poked through the gadget; eyes dazed like he was currently in another world.

Sasuke frowned. He asked the blonde out to keep his mind away from things, and he realized he's doing poorly. He spotted the other gadget above the table and grabbed it, not knowing what to search for. He knew only few songs and some of them are English ones he used to hear before when his mother listened to the radio. He poked the 'History' button and saw a familiar song, immediately selecting it and the commercial that was being played on the screen vanished.

Naruto's head shot up when the music to the commercial stopped and the intro to the next song started; eyes darting to his raven-haired companion who was holding a microphone. The intro ended and the lyrics showed up; Sasuke took a deep breath and started singing.

 _I call you._

 _And you call me._

 _It's funny how we get along so easily.._

 _We're just friends,_

 _...aren't we?_

 _You've got yours I've got mine, and friends are all we ever could be..._

Naruto almost gaped at the sight. Sasuke sang as if he owned the song, and that voice... he was sure they shouldn't belong to a human being. He even sang with good English intonation, good accent, and clear words. He found himself drawn to the music and he felt like the words are directed to him alone; not to mention the small glances Sasuke threw at him for every pause.

 _But we're getting to know each other a little too well..._

Sasuke glanced at Naruto's way again, making sure that the blonde was paying attention to his song. He winked when their eyes met and smirked when the blonde blushed.

 _We're starting to show our feelings, and people can tell..._

This time, Sasuke reached out for the other's hand. Naruto's smile doubled as he also reached for the raven's pale hands; feeling those strong fingers grip his tanned ones and he breathed out a laugh when Sasuke latched himself beside him in a heartbeat.

 _Everytime that your eyes meet mine, I'd light up like a neon sign..._

Sasuke stared directly into deep ocean blue, feeling delighted that he successfully made the blonde smile; let alone, laugh at his hilarious and out-of-character behaviour. The tan hand on his stayed there as he sang the rest of the song with occasional squeezes, lingering glances and winks directed to the blonde. The foods and drinks came and Sasuke received appreciative hums and moans from the blonde as Naruto ate with gusto. He found it cute how the blonde ate like a child with some of the pizza sauce remained splattered on the side of his lips, grinning at him like he didn't care if he looked stupid. The raven muttered an 'idiot' as he wiped the mess off, receiving a 'bastard' as the blonde laughed when the tissue felt ticklish against his skin.

The light bantering along with the flirting and mock sweetness caused Naruto to feel really comfortable with Sasuke. He knew that this will be a one-time meeting with a complete stranger, but the raven had only been kind and gentle all this time. He also enjoyed their small exchanges of insult and he also found the guy funny as they teased each other with their winks or holding hands or anything they could think of as they spend time with each other.

* * *

It's gotten late but neither of them mind; it was a holiday the next day anyway. They were driving along the road with lesser vehicles and even lesser people. The top of the building of the hotel they were in before came into view as Naruto thought of how Sasuke made him completely forget about Neji the whole time. When the time he had to get off the car and get into his own one, he felt a bit sad about having to go back to his usual daily life.

 _Oh... It won't be the usual anymore. It's minus Neji, huh..._

He thought as he stared through the glass of the window of the passenger seat. He had no idea that Sasuke had been staring at him when they stopped at the red lights.

Sasuke's hands gripped a bit tightly on the steering wheel while he stare at the back of the blonde's head. The blonde submerged himself again with deep thoughts; just as Sasuke thought he had helped a little. Now the blonde is back to thinking about his ex-boyfriend. He knew it was naive to think that a guy like him who he barely knew could possibly keep Naruto's mind off unnecessary things. Now he knew better and if he wanted to play the nice guy continuously, he should do his best to convince the blonde to at least give him any contact information.

Still, he didn't say anything; not until he saw the blonde get out of the car and bowed gently before walking away. He knew from the start that the blonde didn't plan on meeting again after this, he was just being polite as to not shake off the kind offer of some stranger. And now it's over.

"Wait!"

Or not.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! With 'You Touch my Soul' approaching its ending, I was wondering if I should already post this one with 'One Last Step Towards You' still in its first chapter. I've been receiving quite satisfying reviews about writing the continuation for 'One Last' and a sequel for 'Fly Me' despite having rough English. LOL. However, as I tried and browse my story drafts, I got the urge to write the continuation for this one – and the idea flowed into my head so naturally I thought I've been possessed by both Sasuke and Naruto's spirits. It was like they were moving and talking on their own and I just write everything unconsciously. LOL. You don't believe me? Well, I don't believe me either. Haha!

Anyway, I will be writing the continuation of this one for a while along with the last chapter of 'You Touch My Soul'.

Note about the story:

I know Sasuke is a bit OOC in this story, as well as Naruto. I like it, though. I dunno. I would appreciate if everyone would let it pass as 'for the plot' purposes, but the way Sasuke seemed really cheesy makes my heart melt. I wonder how these two would level up from Karaoke buddies to something even greater than friends. Know what I mean?

Anyway, I don't plan on having Neji end up being pathetic. I love him, y'know?

Hehe ^^

Thank you in advance for the reviews, and please tell me what I lack – especially in my English. LOL.

See ya!


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Naruto found out that his boyfriend of eight years got a girl pregnant. Not one to deprive a kid of their own father, he chose to break things off; ignoring his own broken heart. Then a gentleman came and took his mind off the hurtful things by... well, singing him sweet songs.

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Warning: AU / Yaoi (boyxboy) / SasuNaru (A bit ooc Sasuke)  
I'm just a rookie so I don't have any idea what a songfic is or how it is written. If anyone could tell, it is highly appreciated. I included some song lyrics in this fic that can probably give some of you goose bumps because, really, even I think that it's a bit too corny. But I need this for the plot, so spare me! *wink*

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Author's Note: Revised Chapter Two! This chapter is about the day Neji made his huge mistake so it will be a bit shorter than the rest. Enjoy!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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CHAPTER 2

* * *

"Mmmhhh…" Naruto mumbled in his sleep when he felt an arm draped over his hips. The sunlight peeking from the slightly closed curtains woke him up completely, turning so he'd face his lover, Neji. He watched as his lover peacefully breathed in and out. He brought a hand to tuck several strands of the brunette's long hair behind an ear. He saw Neji's eyebrows furrow.

Oopps. Did he wake Neji unintentionally?

Neji opened one eye, pale-colored orbs landing on his beautiful lover with his back bathed in sunlight, making him look angelic with his sweet smile.

"Morning, baby…" Neji heard the blonde greet him.

He decided to stay in this position for a while longer before he start getting ready for work.

"What's your schedule today?" he asked Naruto as he used the arm he had on the tanned hips pull the blonde closer to his body.

"Hmm…" Naruto thought for a while and then gasped as if he suddenly remembered something important. "There's a drinking party for the new employees so I might get home late."

Neji frowned. He recalled meeting with Naruto two days ago during lunch break at one of the Italian restaurant near Naruto's office's building. Naruto was together with his subordinate who just entered the company last spring. The guy was just a year younger than Naruto, a fresh graduate who knows nothing of the society yet. However, he saw how their eyes seem to sparkle whenever they talk with Naruto. The guy was obviously aiming for Naruto.

"You have work off tomorrow, right? Shall we go somewhere over the weekend?" Neji heard Naruto ask. He looked at his lover who was then smiling at him. He didn't want anyone see this sweet smile on his lover's face. He suddenly felt possessive, his hand that was on Naruto's hip tightening its grip.

Naruto felt Neji's hand on his hip tense that it hurt. What was wrong?

"Where is that drinking party? I will fetch you." Neji told him, eyes clouded in obvious jealousy.

Naruto knew of Neji's suspicion over one of his subordinates. He already told the brunette how baseless his suspicions were. He was sure of this because his junior always expressed how they admired Naruto's designing skills and how they aimed to become like him.

Neji saw Naruto smile to himself, his suspicion rising.

"Could you turn them down? I will be going home early tonight, we can eat out, I found a great restaurant somewhere near my office." Neji offered. Naruto looked at him in slight disbelief, shaking his head as he replied.

"You know I can't do that as the lead-designer. I will be home before ten in the evening. We will go somewhere tomorrow anyway, so save that reservation for tomorrow. 'Kay?" Naruto grinned at Neji.

The brunette wasn't convinced. Naruto had always been dense to these things that he couldn't notice when people take advantage of him. However, he knew how Naruto would react if he push him any further, so he decided to trust his blonde.

"Fine. Call me once you're about to finish, I'll fetch you." Neji said, sighing.

"You don't have to, r-"

"Call me." Neji said again, not listening to Naruto's refusal.

Naruto frowned, but then shrugged as he agreed to his lover's request. He didn't really want Neji go out of his way to fetch him when he would probably already be tired after a whole day of work.

* * *

Neji waited for Naruto's call inside his office. It was already nine in the evening, but he stayed in his office thinking that the place of the drinking party was closer to his and Naruto's office than their shared apartment.

He glanced at the wall clock. All those thinking took only about five minutes. There were still fifty five minutes left before ten but Naruto promised he'd be getting back home before ten, so Neji started worrying.

 _Why hasn't he called me yet?_

Neji decided to go to the store himself instead of waiting there alone in his office. He didn't know which store Naruto and his office mates went, but he could just search every store. He stood up and grabbed his keys, phone and wallet – not bothering to lock the door to his office when he exited. Modern buildings had automatic locks after all.

Naruto stared at his dead smartphone. He was finding the right time to excuse himself in the middle of the fun talk with his subordinates. Neji was probably worrying about not receiving any text or call from him by then. Leaving his smartphone unattended until it ran out of battery had always been Naruto's poor habit as a designer. He spent the whole day designing for a new project after all.

He looked up at the wall clock near the cashier. Ten minutes before ten in the evening. He decided to go home already. He stood up and excused himself from his office mates who were planning to go to the third party place. His subordinate, Hidaka, followed him out of the store.

Neji was walking along the streets full of Izakayas(1) when he saw Naruto in a serious conversation with another guy outside one of the stores. Looking closely, he realized it was the guy who was targeting his blonde lover.

That was why he warned Naruto not to get close to the guy.

He was about interfere the two when he saw Naruto laugh at something the other guy said.

He felt his heart drop into his stomach.

What if the blonde lied about drinking with their office mates and just went out somewhere with this guy alone?

No. He knew Naruto isn't someone who lied and cheating was one of the things the blonde despised.

His train of thoughts stopped, though, when he saw the guy threw a bone-crushing hug to Naruto, causing themselves to stumble for a bit before gaining their balance back.

Anger and jealousy flowed over Neji as he watched his lover and the guy laugh at their little skin-ship. He was so angry he found himself stomping his way back to his car.

He couldn't believe Naruto would lie to him. However, the jealousy he felt when he saw his lover smile sweetly at someone that was not him was overwhelming, let alone letting them throw him a hug.

When he got home, he opened the expensive wine he bought back from Spain the last time he traveled for business. He didn't expect the alcohol contents to be quite strong he already felt a bit dazed after his third shot. It was good enough, though. He could confront Naruto once the blonde got home.

* * *

The ride home took almost thirty minutes by car. Naruto exited his white car, taking note of the time on the screen of the car's navigator. Eleven thirty. Damn. His talk with Hidaka took longer than expected when the guy told him how they attended the same high school and took participation on an event together. Naruto was thrilled to tell Neji about Hidaka as the brunette also attended the same school with him.

Entering their shared apartment, he thought Neji was already asleep because the lights were off. When he got to the living room, he saw Neji sitting on the floor in front of the television.

"Eh? You were still awake?" he said casually, walking over to find Neji chugging down the rest of the alcohol he was drinking.

"E-Eh! Oi, Neji! This wine had high contents of alcohol. Don't tell me you?"

Neji turned to look at him, eyes red in obvious drunkenness. He knew Neji had high alcohol tolerance, but seeing him getting like this was a first. Was the brunette angry after all for not texting or calling?

"Anyway, let's get you sobered up. Come on, get up. Geez! I know you've got high alcohol tolerance, but drinking one whole bottle this strong would definitely knock anyone off. You dimwit!" Naruto held Neji's arm to help him stand up. The blonde didn't know what happened until he felt the pain on his cheek after Neji dislodged his arms off his own – the pale hand unintentionally hitting him.

Silence filled the living room for about a few seconds before Naruto heard his lover speak.

"Since when?"

Naruto furrowed his brows, confused.

"Since when have you been meeting with him after work?"

Naruto immediately caught on what Neji was talking about, feeling himself get angry at the accusation. What made Neji think he'd been cheating?

"You know, if you want to have this kind of conversation, do it when you're sober. Come on, get up." He said, pulling Neji up but the brunette refused again by shoving Naruto.

Neji stood up by himself, staggering as he did, his words slurred as he spoke again.

"No wonder you refuse to listen no matter how many times I warn you."

"Neji, stop this. You know that confronting someone while being drunk brings nothing but regret later. Come on, I'll help you wash u-"

"Shaddup! Drunk or not, I know what I'm saying." Neji went for the door as he grabbed his keys and wallet.

"Where are you going?" Naruto followed the brunette to the doorway, eyes widening when Neji opened the door. "Don't tell me you plan on going somewhere at this hour, drunk? Stop this. Neji!" Naruto tried to pry Neji's hand off the door knob but the brunette used force to open the door and Naruto's nail made a small cut at his pale arm drawing blood.

Naruto gasped at this and he stopped only to watch Neji get out of the room with a loud bang of the door. He looked at his hand seeing a bit of Neji's blood on his right middle finger. His hands balled into a fist, turning back to get his phone and keys before bolting out of the room to follow his lover.

Neji was drunk. How he wished the guy wouldn't get into his car and get himself in an accident. He felt relieved for a bit when he saw that Neji's car was still in the parking lot, but it didn't last when he realized that the brunette was nowhere near their apartment. He went to look at the nearest park where they sometimes go for a run in the morning, but he didn't find a single soul. He continued his search while trying to give him many calls, his worry growing stronger and deeper.

"Neji…" he panted as he spoke of the brunette's name.

Neji finished his third cup of whiskey, asking for more from the bartender. The bartender refused to give him more as he can see how wasted Neji already was even before entering the bar. Neji scanned the dance floor, seeing illusions that his blonde was walking towards him, smiling very sweetly.

"Hey, baby… What took you so long?" he said, smiling as he stood up and hooked an arm around the waist of a woman with eyes having the same color as Naruto's – only that they had slightly different shade of blue. Naruto's eyes were bluer, shinier, like looking at the clear seas in a tropical island.

"Fuck." He said as he grabbed the face of the woman – kissing her, thinking that he'd get his revenge using the bitch whose hands were already roaming all over his toned chest.

* * *

Neji woke up as he felt someone's leg move against his own ones, eyes wandering around the darkness. He looked beside him and saw the maroon-colored hair of the woman he held the night before. He looked at his nakedness, feeling the sticky substances of their sex mostly on his lower body. He cringed as he felt pain on his back and shoulders, probably because of the scratches the damn bitch made on him.

Groaning, he got up, not minding if he woke the bitch or not. He felt for his keys, wallet and phone – brows furrowing when he realized he didn't bring the small gadget. Glancing at his wrist watch, he learned that he had been asleep for over three hours.

"Six…" he muttered as he went for the shower.

Unlocking the door to his and Naruto's shared apartment, his heart stopped beating for a split-second when he saw Naruto sitting at the doorway with his shoulder and his head leaning against the wall, sleeping.

Then it dawned to him how he completely and unmistakably did the worst thing he could ever do to Naruto. His mind was already clear by then as the alcohol completely left his system. He stared at his lover who was obviously tired waiting for him the whole night.

Neji moved to try and wake Naruto up, but his feet got caught into the blonde's shoes, and his eyes went wide in shock when he saw how dirty the blonde's shoes were and how there are several blisters on his feet.

 _Did he search for me the whole night?_

The guilt he felt for doing the worst thing a person would do to their lover was overwhelming he felt himself shaking as tears started to fall from his eyes.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered as he kneeled down in front of the sleeping blonde, hands clasped in-between his thighs.

"Naruto... I'm sorry…"

* * *

Author's Note: Please drop by the review section! Oh, and the next chapter will be up right away. Rest assured! *wink*


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Naruto found out that his boyfriend of eight years got a girl pregnant. Not one to deprive a kid of their own father, he chose to break things off; ignoring his own broken heart. Then a gentleman came and took his mind off the hurtful things by... well, singing him sweet songs.

* * *

Warning: AU / Yaoi (boyxboy) / SasuNaru (A bit ooc Sasuke)  
I'm just a rookie so I don't have any idea what a songfic is or how it is written. If anyone could tell, it is highly appreciated. I included some song lyrics in this fic that can probably give some of you goose bumps because, really, even I think that it's a bit too corny. But I need this for the plot, so spare me! *wink*

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

CHAPTER 3

* * *

Sasuke didn't know what to say after he called out to stop the blonde, he just felt that he had to – or that night would definitely be the first and the last encounter with him. He didn't want the blonde to be taken aback by his real intention, so he thought he had to say something else, fast – the blonde was waiting, for God's sake!

"Y-You want to hang out again sometimes?" He said the words so fast and he face-palmed mentally for stuttering. How can he get so nervous like this?

Naruto released the breath he was holding in when he heard the raven's voice call out to him with the hint of desperateness. He wished for it, being acquainted with someone as kind and as gentlemanly as Sasuke. However, he did not think that the raven would actually ask to meet again. After a few moments of pondering, he smiled and replied.

"I'd love to..."

Sasuke was sure he saw diamonds twinkling around the blonde the way he shone when he smiled. He felt theurge to smile back, and so he did as he put his hand inside his suit's pocket and drew out a card.

"Here's my contact information. Call me whenever you like."

Naruto took the card and read it loudly.

"Uchiha... Sasuke."

Sasuke wondered if the blonde didn't know who 'Uchiha Sasuke' was because he didn't even react when he read his name or the company he was in and the position he held. Normally, though, people would take a double look once they learned of his name or the position he held in a million-dollar company. The thought vanished right away when Naruto spoke in a slightly flustered manner as if he remembered something urgent.

"Oh, I'm-"

"Naruto." Sasuke cut in, smirking when he saw the blonde's agape expression. Then he felt the need to explain himself. "Sorry, I was right beside the table you were in inside the restaurant."

"I see." Naruto sighed.

"It was unusual that it didn't leave my mind all this time." Sasuke explained.

He saw Naruto pout and muttered 'bastard', laughing when he heard the insult and laughing again when he was told not to laugh. He offered to escort the blonde to his own car and they exchanged smiles before the blonde drove off.

Sasuke watched until he couldn't see the white car anymore. He released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding all this time.

He did it.

He made a connection with the blonde. It wasn't for just a night; they promised to see each other again after this. Getting back into his own car, though, Sasuke thought of how conflicted Naruto probably felt. It didn't get past his eyes how the blonde's shoulder tensed up when he called out to him.

The guy just broke up with his lover. Had it been anyone, he was probably already being used, or had it been some other guy, they had already probably took advantage of the blonde's weakness.

He didn't have any proof, but he felt like their meeting was a work of fate. Especially in his case – as he wasn't one who would jump into an ambiguous relationship, moreover, with someone of the same gender. True, he didn't care about the blonde when he saw him inside the restaurant. It all started when he saw the blonde's smile – and the words he was told after following the blonde.

 _Try falling in love, and you'll understand._

Sasuke smiled to himself again as he drove out of the building's parking and ran the road with great mood.

* * *

Sasuke was in his greatest mood when he got home that night; that was what Itachi thought as he greeted his younger brother when he walked past the living room. He watched in awe as the youngest raven greet their mother with a hug and a peck in her forehead and called out to their father, saying 'I'm home, Father!'

Seconds later, Fugaku emerged from his office to witness his youngest son skip several steps on the staircase as he went up to the second floor.

"Something good might have happened." Mikoto giggled at her son's good spirits. Fugaku just shrugged and went back the room while Itachi secretly smiled on his own, amused at how Sasuke looked goofy that night.

Sasuke stared at his smartphone while drying his hair with a small towel. He'd been checking his phone all this time even before forcing himself to finally get into the showers. The blonde hasn't called him. Even a text message would've be fine, too. Okay, so maybe even an e-mail? He made sure all sorts of contact information was written on the card he gave, but none came. It was already eleven in the evening. Did he live far? No, he was sure Naruto lived in the same town because he knew all-too-well the places around.

Sighing in exasperation, he decided to go to bed. There's no use cracking his head up thinking about when would the blonde contact him. Maybe he plan to contact him the next day? The night haven't even passed yet after all. He sighed again when he heard a knock on his door and there emerged Itachi with an amused look on his face.

"Where did the goofy little brother I saw earlier vanished to?" Itachi's low-toned voice filled the room. Any other day, Sasuke would have given him a smart retort or hiss of irritation, but to Itachi's surprise, none of these came.

"Care to fill me in of the details why you seem so happy?"

Sasuke had the luxury to shrug; sitting on his bed as Itachi did the same. This is where their bonding begins; one would pry the other if something was bothering them or when something good happened. Sasuke usually hated his brother's smart comments and out-of-the-line teasing, but whenever they talk like this; he thought of how lucky he was having a brother he could confide with. Not that he'd say it out loud, though.

Waiting for his younger brother to open his mouth, Itachi crossed his legs and tapped his foot on the floor; watching Sasuke as the younger one started telling the story about the beautiful blonde he met that night.

* * *

Naruto came home a bit later than ten in that same evening. When he was driving on his way home, he wondered if Neji would go straight to their shared apartment or visit his family's home first.

He got his answer when he noticed the absence of the other's car in the parking lot. He didn't know how he felt, because the thought of him and Neji's relationship ending that night still didn't sink through.

He also thought about their living arrangements. Would Neji leave? Or have _him_ leave? It was Neji's apartment in the first place; Naruto had just moved in and offered to pay half of the rent but after so many years, Neji had finally convinced the blonde that he'd pay for the rent himself alone.

So that left Naruto no choice but to pack his things up and leave.

Unlocking the door, he was greeted by the ear-deafening silence and the darkness that seemed to engulf his entire being. He had been alone for the past month, and had been in despair for the whole three weeks after finding out about the girl Neji had been involved with.

He swallowed a lump in his throat, felt for the light's switch and switched them on. The room was empty, just like his heart.

They were void of emotion. He wasn't angry anymore. He wasn't even lonely. And there's no way he was happy about Neji finally having himself his own family.

No emotion existed in his heart anymore.

However, the heaviness he felt, the emptiness, the sadness, it was there. It was taunting him. It was telling him how he would be alone from that night on.

Shaking his head, he rid himself off his stuffy clothes and threw them on the tray inside his bathroom. A card fell on the floor, and that was when he recalled the raven-haired guy he met earlier that evening.

 _Uchiha Sasuke_

He knew the name; had heard of it.

Well, who wouldn't?

The Uchiha's company had been one of the most successful business firms among the country along with the Sabaku's and the Hyuuga's - Neji's family.

He was surprised to actually meet one of the most-desired bachelors, but then he realized that the raven was probably just searching for a genuine friendship with him. It was bad of him to get suspicious about Sasuke, because he was convinced that not everyone would be interested in someone like him.

He had been hit on and were asked out by both guys and girls left and right, but he had always been with Neji so he didn't even pay attention to any of them. Neji was possessive and he made it clear every time that the blonde was his whenever guys or girls approach him by, well, glaring at them. No one would want to be glared at by those creepy pale orbs after all.

His mind went back to being filled with thoughts of Neji.

Did he manage to get home safely? Did he eat properly? Did he talk it over with the girl? And how about that girl? Was she alright? Did Neji treat her gently?

All these questions swirled around his head. He suddenly felt dizzy and clutched the card in his right hand. He used his other hand to grab a chair and flopped down into it, looking at the crumpled card in his hand.

 _Sasuke..._

He suddenly felt his shoulders relaxed thinking about the raven. It felt natural to be spending time with him. Sasuke brought his mind out of hurtful thoughts. He stayed with Naruto, made him laugh when he was supposed to be feeling terrible.

He recalled the raven's song and he had to stifle a laugh again, remembering how Sasuke perfectly sang with ease.

The flirting games were also entertaining. He never knew that the popular guy would be this... out-going?

He felt the urge to call the other, had been wanting to hear his voice again.

Thinking about the raven makes him forget about Neji. He knew it was wrong to find comfort in someone else's presence, but he doubt he'd get through with this alone.

That night; though the raven helped him get through most of it, would be tough. He haven't been drinking, so he wondered why he was having a headache. He brought out his phone and dialed Sasuke's number. He was about to press the 'call' button but his hands stopped.

He was being confused right now. He was having a migraine and the thoughts of a certain brunette was still swirling around his head. If he make a call and the other start to play the flirting games again, he might actually fall for it seriously and it might cause trouble for the raven.

 _That would be unfair._

So for now, he held back. If sadness would attack him mercilessly for the whole night, so be it, he had to handle it alone. Trying his best to erase every last traces of thoughts about the brunette, he let his body fall onto his bed and closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep without thinking about Neji anymore. It was more challenging than he thought it would.

* * *

It had been three days since Sasuke's first encounter with Naruto. He didn't know what to think anymore or if the blonde was really up to meet him again.

What if he just threw the card away to some corner?

They didn't know much about the other and that was enough reason not to further the companionship. However, he thought the blonde accepted his offer. He didn't even push his luck too much, just a simple acquaintanceship was all he wanted. The blonde even said 'sure', though there was vagueness in his reply.

Sasuke held onto that tiny bit of hope, no matter how vague it was. Now that three days has passed since they met and he wasn't even receiving a single call or message from the blonde, he felt that the tiny bit of hope he was feeling started to fade.

* * *

When his little brother came home that same day, Itachi greeted Sasuke like he usually did, but he was ignored.

His mother emerged from the kitchen and told him she made his favorite dish; she received a non-commital 'hn' as a response and walked past her.

His father who had been in his office for the last three hours finally got off his seat and spotted him dragging his feet upstairs as if carrying a whole load of who-knows-what on his shoulders.

The three looked at each other in confusion.

What happened to their youngest boy?

Sighing, Itachi put down his book and went upstairs; glancing at his parents to reassure them that he'd be there for Sasuke if he ever need someone to talk to.

Lying on his bed with his left arm over his eyes, Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh.

He didn't notice that he'd been sighing the whole day, his subordinates felt the whole building was in the verge of exploding if they ever touch the wrong button.

He felt the edge of his bed sink low a bit and he didn't have to look to figure out who it was.

Itachi looked over at the tired appearance of his baby brother. He received calls from one of their trusted employees about the younger raven's unusual behavior. Though he appeared to be always in a bad mood most of the times, they reported how today seemed different as he had been either in a daze or on the verge of exploding. He heard another sigh leave Sasuke's lips again and he decided to speak or they won't get to dinner in time.

"You can either tell me what happened right here, or have father and mother pester you about what's going on. You choose."

Of course, none of the two wanted to have both their parents worrying about their love life so Sasuke decided now was the time to whine to his brother about his frustration. He can only whine in front of his big brother and no one else.

"I haven't received any calls from him, not even once. He didn't even send any messages. I bet he just agreed to keep on touch so he can dismiss me immediately that night." Sasuke said all in one breath; Itachi had to raise a brow in surprise. He heard Sasuke whine before, so many times, but now it sounded so desperate he pitied his younger brother.

Relaxing on his seat at the edge of the bed, Itachi took his time to analyse Sasuke's problem. His baby brother haven't experienced taking interest in anyone before, and now that he did; he gets frustrated about not being able to see the person or even hear anything from them. He understood completely how it felt and if there was any advice he could offer;

"You should be patient and believe in him that he'd come around one of these days." was the only thing he could say.

Sasuke let out a guttural sound, clearly frustrated because he knew that what Itachi said is the only thing he could ever do right now.

Be patient; hell, that was how he had been for the last three fucking days!

An image of the blonde's happy laugh and angelic smile when they parted ways flashed through his mind; Sasuke stopped all thoughts and sat up abruptly, making Itachi jump a bit in surprise.

"That's right. You're right, Nii-san... Thanks." he said; then as if on cue, they both heard the loud growl of Sasuke's stomach - earning himself a throaty laugh from the older raven. He also smiled a bit.

"Don't laugh. I haven't had lunch today." He said while following Itachi when he went out of the room when they heard their mother call out to them from the kitchen.

Minutes later, his cellphone that was left lying on his bed vibrated for mere seconds before the light disappeared again.

* * *

Naruto managed to put away all his things in several boxes. He looked around the apartment and noticed how bare it looked without his things. Usually, the room looked totally lived-in with his colorful stuffs and unnecessary items, but now that he put them down and is now sealed inside the boxes; the apartment he and Neji shared for almost five years felt really empty.

He arranged an appointment on truck services to help him for his move and they will be arriving the next morning. For now, he prepared the things and secured his next apartment the day before. He cannot believe how fast he managed to find a 1LDK apartment within these three days. He had to get out of this apartment right away before Neji decide to come and throw him out.

He winced at the thought. He doubt Neji would ever throw him out. The brunette might probably ask him to stay instead... _with him_. And that; he cannot allow. He had to draw the line. Neji already have his own family; he can't be ruining it now, would he?

It was already seven in the evening; his stomach growled loudly at its emptiness. He haven't had any food since that morning because he was busy packing all his things. He craved for Ramen, and Ichiraku's are always the best.

Nodding his head as he decided to eat out, he grabbed his keys and wallet. He stopped as he forgot to grab his cellphone. When the gadget got to his hands, he stopped again as he stared at it.

 _Maybe today's a good time. He probably just gave me his number as a polite gesture, but even so..._

Erasing all hesitation, he swiped it open and entered his passcode; made a short message and pressed the 'send' button. He was nervous as he typed the words, but as soon as he finished his message and immediately sending it; the pounding on his chest stopped.

His world stopped.

Everything stopped.

The only thing that didn't stop was the special ringtone he had assigned for a certain brunette's number.

Hands shaking, lips quivering; he rejected the call and dropped his phone back to the coffee table beside their bed, no; _the_ bed. It doesn't belong to him anymore.

Neji was calling him. Now, of all times? And what for? They were over now.

If the brunette called to say he agreed to break up, he won't be able to take it. He won't be able accept the fact that Neji would acknowledge their break up and then go to that girl.

He left Neji in his shocked state on purpose so he didn't have to hear anything about the brunette's pleas for him to stay or his ' _alright_ ' for accepting the fact that they were over. It would be either of the two, and either would just kill him inside; so all he wanted to do is to run and hide so he won't have to face the Hyuuga anymore.

He didn't notice that he'd been standing still in the same place for almost half-an-hour. He was brought out of his swirling thoughts by the sound of the front door being opened and shuffling of shoes. His heart pounded heavily against his chest, his breath still; there were no other person who'd have the key to their shared apartment other than Neji.

He heard the footsteps cease in movement as he thought that Neji probably saw the boxes that was lined up in front of the doorway. Again, the sound of footsteps resumed; with eagerness this time, then he heard the sound of the door to their shared room open.

Naruto refused to look; for he didn't even know how his face looked like. He clenched his fists, feeling the keys on his right hand and his wallet on his left. That's right, he was hungry, right? He was about to go to Ichiraku's. Okay, that's where he start. Turning to his heel, he didn't anticipate Neji to come close to him and suddenly he was right in front of him; hands on his arms.

"You're leaving?"

No. Not this approach. Naruto decided to leave Neji for the sake of the unborn child.

"Don't leave. Naruto, _please!_ "

 _Not those pleading words. Please, no..._

"I'm sorry for not showing up for the past three days. I was busy with work. Don't be mad."

He's not even mad. Well, that was a lie. However, he never expected Neji to just show up like this.

"Naruto, I love you! Don't leave m-"

"As if _that's_ the only _fucking_ thing that matters?!" Naruto finally snapped. Hearing Neji's desperate tone and his pathetic words despite the fact that there's nothing the both of them can do anymore made him snap in despair.

Naruto's heart was breaking once again.

"You know? You always say that very same line every single time we have a fight, and I forgive you anyway. Why? It's because the problem only revolves around you and me. _This,_ though, this problem already involves someone else's life. And should I remind you whose life we were talking about here?"

It was his kid's life. Of course, he knew. Naruto did these for the sake of Neji's unborn child.

"Neji, you caused this disaster. It is _you_ who messed up our relationship. And it is not going to be fixed by _you_ telling _me_ you _love_ me, because I know that no matter how much we feel for each other; there is _nothing_ we can do anymore! I leave this house, and you stay beside that girl and your baby!"

Naruto turned to leave the brunette. He wanted to finish this talk because if they talk more, they'd hurt each other more; and he doesn't want to feel pain any further than this. Still, Neji tried to stop him.

"No. I won't let you go. Please, Naruto, I need you!"

"You already have your own family, you already have your own kid!"

"I didn't even want that kid!" Sapphire orbs widened and before either of them realized what happened;

 **SLAP!**

The time stood still, silence filled the whole room.

Neji's eyes were wide in shock facing to his right as he felt pain on his left cheek. He didn't move for a while, not when he realized that he had just been slapped by Naruto square on the face. When he finally had the heart to move his head, his eyes widened again as he witness Naruto's eyes stare at him in disbelief. The shock that was present on the blonde's face turned into a furious one, his face getting red in anger, tears started forming at the side of his eyes.

"You didn't just say that, Hyuuga Neji. You didn't just-" Naruto was looking at the floor, shaking his head; disbelief filling all his senses at the words he heard from the brunette. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!"!?"

He couldn't believe that Neji had it in him to deny his own child. The worst of it all was how he thought that he was the one who drove Neji to think about such a thing.

And that was the most painful part of it.

Neji was also at a loss about what just came out of his mouth. Did he really think like that? Did he really despise having that child? How about Naruto? If he ever accepted the child, he would lose Naruto.

Naruto had been and will always be his world.

Somewhere along the lines, he knew it was wrong to still pursue the blonde when he already had a child with the mother waiting for him.

He knew how hard it already was to fix what had been between him and the blonde. It would be hard to fix their bond.

He could already imagine Naruto's heart, broken, bleeding – and it was his mistake that caused it.

Oh how he wished he could exchange several years of his life just to reverse this mistake.

Naruto felt his eyes get hot and tears started to flow. His heart was squeezing very painfully, his throat felt tight, his breath getting short.

 _Fuck._

He was about to start hyperventilating, but he didn't want to. Not in front of Neji.

He started panting as Neji continued to scream how he didn't want to break up or how he still loved Naruto too much, and how his world was crushing right in front of his eyes.

 _Neji.._

Naruto started hyperventilating, making Neji stop screaming and started panicking when Naruto doubled-over – his hands clenching his shirt right on his chest.

"Naruto? Naruto, breathe properly!"

He immediately kneeled down beside the blonde, his left hand covering Naruto's mouth and nose to try and control his breathing.

Just like how he did all those eight years they'd been together.

Minutes passed and Naruto started to breathe normally. Neji's hand that was on Naruto's mouth was wet with sweat and saliva. The blonde's face that was very red started to return back to normal. After this, Neji started tearing up, embracing Naruto in his arms.

He couldn't believe that his one-time mistake would be his greatest mistake.

He recalled how he met the girl in one of the bars around the city. It was during one of their fights. The fight, he recalled, was when he got super jealous of one of Naruto's subordinates who was obviously lusting after him. Naruto was dense right from the start so he knew that the blonde didn't have any idea whenever he's being targeted by someone's affection.

The fight started when Neji accused the blonde for meeting with the said subordinate outside of work when he came home late one night. The blonde was insisting he went out for a drink with everyone in his office, but Neji – having been drunk that same night – insisted that the blonde was cheating on him.

The same night of the fight, he went to a bar. Even in his drunken state, though, he knew his actions. He did the unbelievable because he thought he ought to take revenge. He went home in the morning, only to find out that Naruto was looking for him all night and that he had almost over fifty missed calls from the blonde.

He later learned that the blonde really didn't do anything near cheating and that he really only went out to drink with his officemates – and that he didn't even drink a single drop of alcohol because he knew he and Neji promised to go out somewhere the next day.

Remembering his foolishness, he realized how unfair he really was that day. He didn't think that it would be the very same day that would mark the end of his and Naruto's relationship.

"Just…"

He heard the blonde say in-between short breathes.

"Just… Let go of me… _Please._ "

He realized by then how he hurt Naruto deeply. He was hurt beyond repair. Together or not, he knew Naruto would continuously be hurt.

 _And so am I…_

"Naruto…" he sobbed as he continued embracing Naruto, hearing the blonde cry again.

"I'm sorry…"

Naruto started crying his heart out at hearing Neji's apology. He cried because he knew that the brunette was sincerely apologizing. Because he knew that the brunette realized how everything was his fault and how there is no turning back or any way to fix their bond. He cried because he knew he still loved Neji deeply and that these deep feelings wouldn't have anywhere to go. They loved each other, but they have to let go of each other.

No more words were exchanged as both their hands reached for each other's faces, lips locking in an intense exchange of kisses. The familiar heat they always felt whenever they touch each other increased as pale hands caressed every part of Naruto's body while the tanned ones continued caressing the long hair, pulling and pushing as they stumble through the room to get into the bed.

They let go of each other's lips as they breathed in, only to lock lips again with renewed vigor.

Neji easily removed Naruto's sleeping garments as he devoured one pink nipple while his hand pinched and rolled the other with his thumb and index finger.

Naruto panted in pleasure as he bucked his hips up continuously to get any friction he could get against any part of Neji's body.

Neji granted him the friction he wanted when put his hips in between Naruto's tanned ones and ground his against his crotch, earning themselves a delicious sensation.

"Haaa… A-Aahhh..!"

Hearing Naruto's moan made his own erection twitch, his hips unconsciously grinding against Naruto's once again – making both of them groan in pleasure.

"N-Naruto…"

Naruto was in the midst of drowning in heavenly pleasure when the face of a woman crying in despair clutching at their stomach flashed in his mind. He snapped out of his high as he immediately pushed Neji away.

They were both panting as he and Neji stared at each other, eyes wide in shock.

Naruto was the first one to recover, standing up using the bedsheet to cover his nakedness. He shook his head vigorously, shock still clear in his eyes. He glanced at Neji, still in shock as both their erection started limping. Neji looked pitiful on the floor, still in shock.

This is unfair.

So unfair.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Why did you have to…" he started crying again.

"Why did you do that?"

As if getting back into his senses, Neji stood up and grabbed Naruto to embrace him again – but his hand got slapped before he could even wrap his arms around the blonde.

"You bastard, why did you do that!? Why the fuck did you cheat on me!? You betrayed me! You betrayed _us_! You betrayed everything!" Neji just watched Naruto as he cry and scream all the frustration he had.

This Naruto was what he loved the most. The Naruto who just straight-forwardly express all his frustrations instead of bottling them all up.

"You know how much I love you! You know how much I treasure the thing we had until now. You know you're the only one I have left, so, why!? Why!?"

"Sorry.."

"As if your fucking apology would get us anywhere!" Naruto started sobbing and crying, sometimes screaming in pain as Neji tried to get the blonde inside his arms.

"Let go of me, you idiot!"

"Naruto…" Neji's pitiful pleas were so uncharacteristic that it made a slight impact on Naruto's will to shove away the brunette completely.

"Naruto... I love you..."

"I love you, too! Have you forgotten!?"

Of course, he knew. Of course he knew how much Naruto loved him. They have been in ups and downs, heaven and hell with their relationship, and every timeevery time a problem occur, they would fix it up and reassure their feelings to one another. Is there really no chance for them anymore?

"I can't live without you..." it was almost a whisper, but Naruto heard it perfectly. The love-filled words, the loneliness, the desperate need of answer – the sound of a heart breaking.

Naruto wanted to give in to the pain and just break down and cry; but if he continue showing his weakness, Neji would just insist staying by his side. Moreover, his resolve might waver. One of them had to be firm, and it had to be him. Neji was being unstable right then, but he would regret it more someday if he ever left his unborn child behind just to be with Naruto.

Letting out a shaky breath, Naruto stood straight; eyes fixated to Neji's weary ones.

"I'm sorry, Neji. I'm ending this."

The finality in those words brought waves of pain through the Hyuuga's system. He tried to reach out to Naruto, but the blonde just brushed him off; swiped his cellphone off the coffee table, and left. He heard the shuffling of shoes and the door being opened, but before the blonde exited the apartment; he spoke one last time

"I'll leave the keys in the mailbox tomorrow." and with that, he's gone.

Neji just stood there in silence for several minutes, and when he was sure he was out of earshot, he collapsed onto the floor and let out a shaky breath along with the tears he was holding back all this time. His hands were clasped together on his lap while his head was against those hands as he cried his sorrow of losing the one he loved the most.

Naruto, on the other hand, was sitting inside his car. He didn't turn the engine on. He was just staring blankly into space. He drove to the nearest park just to avoid running into Neji again if the brunette ever decide to go after him. Blinking, though, he saw the brunette's car pass through the park and into the streets... and that was his cue to start crying his heart out again in a painful scream. It crushed his heart to push Neji away, especially after hearing him say how much the brunette loved him back. But their relationship is over... it can never be fixed again by their simple 'I Love You'.

He continued crying, his head that was against his arms was leaning against the steering wheel.

The song he heard at one of the TV dramas he was watching played inside his head, remembering that one heartbreaking line that had his chest tighten up in pain.

「いつか忘れてく気持ちならば」  
 _If this feeling would be forgotten someday;_

「こんなに心を苦しめないで」  
 _then please do not torment my heart this much.  
_

His body shook, feeling himself start hyperventilating again. He opened the car's windows to try and breath-in the fresh air, but it didn't help; his breathing increased and the panic rose up in his system. His phone suddenly rang, his eyes scanned fast to see who was calling. He saw Iruka's name and immediately answered the call. He couldn't say anything as the other person call his name many times, not getting any response from him aside from his hard panting. When he felt he can no longer contain the tightness in his chest; his vision blacked out.

* * *

Author's Note:

 _Izakaya -_ A type of Japanese bar in which variety of small, typical inexpensive dishes and snacks are served to accompany the alcoholic drinks.

The song I quoted here was from the song 「SUNSET」 by Mi.

This song was my most favorite one from 「僕らがいた」Bokura Ga Ita (We Were There) anime.

Please tell me what you think. Chapter Four will be up right away. I wonder how Naruto and Neji's relationship would develop. How would Sasuke rescue Naruto out of the heartbreak? And will Sasuke and Naruto's relationship go the way Sasuke wished it would?

Drop by the review sections, _'kay?_ *wink*


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: Naruto found out that his boyfriend of eight years got a girl pregnant. Not one to deprive a kid of their own father, he chose to break things off; ignoring his own broken heart. Then a gentleman came and took his mind off the hurtful things by... well, singing him sweet songs.

* * *

Warning: AU / Yaoi (boyxboy) / SasuNaru (A bit ooc Sasuke)  
I'm just a rookie so I don't have any idea what a songfic is or how it is written. If anyone could tell, it is highly appreciated. I included some song lyrics in this fic that can probably give some of you goose bumps because, really, even I think that it's a bit too corny. But I need this for the plot, so spare me! *wink*

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

CHAPTER 4

* * *

Dinner takes longer than necessary; that's what Sasuke thought every night. Of course, he would finish right away what was served to him, but the 'talks' are the causes of delays every time he intend to get a spoonful of his food.

He never hated the talks, though, as he always feel the connection he had with his father whenever he ask an update from him to make sure that he knew what's going on in the company and offer his assistance even if he only works in the house and let his sons manage the company.

He already retired several years ago after Sasuke became the vice president and Itachi was appointed as the president. As the chairman; he only guides his sons about what to do in what situation or how to expand their business without any risk, and who to trust or not.

Mikoto, on the other hand, always pester them about their lack of romance; to which, Sasuke had to choke on his tea. Itachi threw him a warning glance; making sure he won't give himself out. Itachi was fine, but to have their parents worry about their damn love life was too freaking awkward.

The youngest raven found an excuse to escape when he noticed the absence of his mobile phone. Although there weren't any sign of the blonde calling or texting, he still preferred that the gadget was always at arm's length.

Getting inside his room, he spotted the gadget on his bed; the notice light flickering on and off. His eyes went wide and he almost ran to grab the thing in a split-second, jumping into the air and letting his body slam against the soft mattress.

Unknown number. His phone was set not to reveal preview messages from unknown numbers.

That's it! It must be the blonde that he was waiting for! He pressed the home button, the device automatically unlocking when the phone recognized his face.

The message was short. Unbelievably short. It gave no information about the blonde's current condition or any excuse for contacting late or whatsoever.

 _ **Naruto: Gonna grab some Ramen for dinner. Wanna join?**_

He almost laughed at the casual way the message appeared.

Ramen for dinner?

So Naruto loves ramen, huh?

He chuckled as he laid on his bed; stomach against the soft mattress.

All the stress and the edginess he felt the whole three days evaporated in thin air in one breath and now he was grinning giddily, thinking about how to reply.

He caught himself chuckling when he came up with various things he could tell the blonde to tease him about his ramen.

* * *

Groggily waking up on a mattress that was obviously not his bed, Naruto turned to his right side and heard a gasp followed by the clattering noise of a chair. He opened his eyes and was greeted by a worry-filled almond orbs of his father-figure and previous teacher.

"Naruto? You okay?" Iruka's gentle voice filled the room as Naruto felt the gentle and warm hands fondling his cheeks. He recalled what happened to him.

"Iruka-sensei..." were the only words that escaped the blonde's lips, then he shook violently against the tanned arms that had automatically wrapped around his smaller frame.

Iruka didn't know anything; about the girl, and about his break up with Neji. He didn't tell anyone about it because he didn't want them to hate Neji. He was still his friend before being a boyfriend.

* * *

Iruka didn't saying anything; they just stayed in that position for who knows how long until the blonde stopped shaking. His hand that was brushing along the small of Naruto's back were soothing that the blonde felt sleepy once again.

Iruka noticed something on the table that was beside the hospital bed and he reached for it to give it to Naruto. "You have a message." he said.

Naruto, still half asleep, took the phone and pressed the home button. When he saw the preview of the message, he felt relief wash over his chest. That's right. He was never alone. He got Iruka and all his friends – but he wasn't one to tell them about his heartbreak. With this person, the person who knew exactly what happened but didn't pry to know further; he feels like he can open up his heart to him. Like he could tell this person everything but still get to smile and laugh together because this person makes him feel so himself. This person makes him happy.

Smiling as he read the message, he saw Iruka smile too with relief filling his eyes.

 _ **Sasuke: I really wonder how people can eat that garbage.**_

He quickly tapped on his phone to send a reply; a bit excited because he had started connecting to the raven once again.

 _ **Naruto: You bastard... Talk about being rude. Ramen is a sacred food. You've got to try it and see for yourself how delicious it is.**_

Few minutes passed and again, another reply.

 _ **Sasuke: Make me.**_

Naruto laughed, and that laugh had made his former teacher smile while shaking his head. One minute, the blonde was sobbing; then the next, he's laughing.

Naruto sent another reply; giggling as he tapped the letters in such a haste.

 _ **Naruto: I'll drag your almighty ass at Ichiraku's and stuff your face a mouthful of miso ramen. Prepare yourself.**_

* * *

Sasuke had to laugh at Naruto's absurd replies. He liked the way the blonde call him names that no one had ever tried doing, and he is thrilled to know that Naruto seemed comfortable with his lack of response.

Sasuke was a man of few words. Well, not until he met Naruto. The blonde made him feel that he had to say something back whenever he open that beautiful mouth of him. He felt like the blonde makes up for the things he lack and he liked the way it sounds. Reading again the last message Naruto sent him, he tapped on his phone to reply back.

 _ **Sasuke: Idiot.**_

Excitement overflowed within Sasuke that he cannot wait for Naruto's reply for more than a minute. He wanted to see the dobe right away and see face-to-face how he looked like as they throw these insults to each other. There was something in Naruto that made him feel challenged whenever he gets provoked; and it was the first he felt that way with someone. It was like having a best friend for a long time; though he didn't mind taking it further.

Another reply came and he almost laughed out loud at the furious burst out the blonde made in his reply to the last message he sent. Funny, and cute. Naruto is so cute.

 _ **Naruto: Don't call me 'idiot', you bastard!**_

He could imagine how red Naruto's face is by now; fuming at the insulting word; then it will change into a fake frown and he'd mutter a 'bastard' and then he'd smile his usual angelic one.

After throwing another insult and receiving one back, he finally asked the blonde one thing he really wanted to ask the moment he received the first message.

 _ **Sasuke: Wanna hang out again this weekend? Let's get that ramen you love.**_

He knew he was moving really fast, but he'd waited three whole days already. He prayed to any gods listening that he'd get a positive response from the lovely blonde. Few minutes passed, then he got his reply; pumping a fist up in the air when he finished reading.

 _ **Naruto: You're allowing me to shove food on your face? Great!**_

He smirked; rolling again so his back was against the mattress, one hand reaching for a pillow as he rolled back his stomach against the mattress again – resting his chin on the soft pillow as he typed yet another message.

 _ **Sasuke: But if the food tastes like garbage just as I thought it would, I'll be the one to shove them to your (lovely) mouth.**_

 _ **Naruto: I'd appreciate the gesture since I tend to eat more than two bowls of them.**_

 _ **Sasuke: And that's a win-win for you. Talk about being sly.**_

 _ **Naruto: That's what you get for insulting ramen. Lol.**_

 _ **Sasuke: Hn.**_

That last message Sasuke sent seemed so short, but Naruto could see the smirk on his perfect face.

So he'll be seeing the raven this weekend...

The thought made him feel better.

Of course, his heart was still in chaos and he was sure it would take time for him to finally be free of the burden, but enjoying someone else's company sounds appealing. Especially someone who could make him fume with insults one second, then make him laugh the next.

Unconsciously, though, he ignored the tingling sensation he felt as they exchanged messages to each other.

He put the phone over his chest; clutching it tightly as he felt sleepy again.

Iruka watched in relief; thinking that Neji had probably said something to make Naruto smile like that.

When he saw Naruto passed out inside his car, he cursed mentally and swore to castrate Neji after this ordeal; but it seemed that he didn't have to.

Unbeknownst to him; Neji was breaking Naruto's world apart, and some stranger was the one who slowly but surely put the pieces back where they belong.

* * *

Saturday afternoon, Sasuke found himself standing in front of his car.

He was at the parking space in front of the station adjacent to the building he had gone to before with Naruto.

After their exchange of messages that night, he asked the blonde the next day for his schedule for the weekend and was pleased to know that the blonde has a free time, especially weekends.

He wondered what kind of work the blonde does, or if he was a student.

He doubted it.

If Naruto was a student, he would probably be somewhere around college because he looked too young to be a working adult and too old to be a high school student; and college students were, like, the busiest person in society because of reports, homeworks, projects, lectures, etc. He wouldn't have time to go out on weekends like this.

Anyway, cracking his head up figuring it out was a futile effort. He could just simply ask the blonde during dinner once the movie was over, but of course; being careful about letting his intentions slip through.

He invited Naruto to the movies, hoping that he'd get a date from the angel without him knowing.

The movie was something the blonde wanted to see, and who was he to deprive a beautiful creature little pleasures like that?

It will be a great honor to date, no, to _accompany_ the blonde in his free time.

He chuckled a bit at the thought of dating the beautiful blonde. What would he sacrifice to get to be the one making Naruto smile so brightly, he couldn't count. For now, he would sacrifice having the time for himself and spend most of it with the blonde; that was what he decided.

Time…

He looked at his watch and had to wince when he found out that there were still thirty minutes before their meeting time.

He'd been too thrilled to see the blonde that when he finished his work that morning, he drove home, changed clothes, booked tickets and reserved a table at a restaurant, and drove straight to the place.

 _There's nothing wrong with being over-prepared... Hn._

* * *

A total perfection, if one may say, as the good-looking dark-haired man stood with his right hand in his right pocket and the other holding his mobile phone.

Girls around checking him out appreciatively, but not dared to approach him because whenever someone closes in and intends to talk to him; he'd scowl at them and they'd scurry away. Guys, on the other hand, looked in awe and obvious envy.

 _Does the person himself realize his effect to every single soul in this specific area?_

Naruto took the subway this time; knowing that it'd be stupid for them two to bring both of their cars. The ride to the meeting place was just fifteen minutes by train from his new apartment anyway.

Standing at the side walk, waiting for the light of the pedestrian post to turn green, Naruto took in the appearance of his newly-met companion that was then leaning on his black car like someone out of a painting. He looked really casual in his plain white shirt underneath a black leather jacket that was zipped up to his chest, showing his silver chain necklace with a thick silver ring on it. Below, he wore a simple black jeans that hugged his legs perfectly; the cloth stretched tightly against his waist showing his tight buttocks that made every girl drool.

The light turned green and he started walking; eyes transfixed to the attractive guy at the opposite side of the street. As he make his way closer, he found the raven more and more attractive; evidence clear with how almost all of the people around never get past without glancing at him.

Naruto looked at his own outfit; deeming it just as appropriate as the way Sasuke dressed.

He usually went out in sweat pants and baggy shirts, but today he chose to wear a white long-sleeved shirt underneath his favorite orange-colored sleeveless parka that was unzipped. The sleeves of his shirt were folded neatly up to his mid-arm to reveal his black leather wrist belt on the left hand and his watch on the right. Below, he wore blue jeans and he had his black thick belt showing at the hem of his shirt that was tucked in his pants.

He swore his casual outfit could never lose, but he felt like the raven himself was the sole reason why people were attracted to him; not because of what he wore. His good style was just a plus. Heck, if the raven wore baggy clothes and sweat pants; he'd still look awesomely perfect. While Naruto only looked shabby and younger, almost like a high school boy.

He slumped with the thought as his feet suddenly slowed down, he didn't notice several eyes glancing at him left and right. Some are from girls, most are guys.

* * *

Sasuke saw the blonde the moment he crossed the street. The first time they met, the blonde was wearing collared shirt underneath a simple suit. This time he was glad he wore his most casual outfit because it was a perfect match for what Naruto had. Staring at the people surrounding the blonde, though; he noticed several eyes on him. Most are stopping on their tracks; probably weighing their options between approaching the blonde... and approaching the blonde.

 _As if I'd let you._

Two girls decided they'd stand a chance among the others and stepped closer to the blonde; at the same time, Sasuke removed his person from his car and made long strides towards Naruto.

"Come on, we're really bored with just the two of us... Join us, pretty please?" the girl with the ponytail fluttered her eyelashes to look cute while the one with short wavy hair hooked her silky-white arms on the blonde's tanned one. Naruto looked really troubled, not knowing what to do; Sasuke chose that moment to step in, putting a hand on the shorter guy's shoulder.

"Naruto, what took you so long? Let's go."

Naruto looked up and relief washed over his being when he saw that it was Sasuke who grabbed his shoulder. The two girls gasped, then they giggled. It's not every day that they get to score two amazing guys in the busy streets.

The girl with the ponytail hooked her arm on Sasuke's, and Naruto found the action really annoying. Looking at Sasuke, though, he noticed that the raven was getting pissed beyond recognition.

"So you have a companion! Perfect!"

Smirking inwardly, Naruto knew that the raven will ruthlessly dislodge the slender arm off his person, but the smirk that appeared on that perfect face told him that there was more to it than that.

Sasuke knew that several eyes were still on them; even if they managed to shoo away the two annoying bitches, the chances that some other bitches will approach them is high. He did manage to shoo away the guys who looked at the blonde with lust in their eyes, so his irritation lessened.

Removing the girl's thin arms off his, he moved closer to Naruto with glint in his eyes that made the blonde realize what he was planning. Playing along, Naruto held out his hand and pale ones automatically intertwined with it immediately.

"Sorry, babe... I missed my train." Naruto spoke the words all too sweetly Sasuke had to keep himself from smiling back. Oh how he wished it was all real.

Sasuke leaned closer and whispered something on tanned ears that made the blonde giggle all too girly.

Damn, he looked really cute.

The girls stared, jaws dropped, as the raven put his arm around Naruto's slender waist and they walked past them with eyes glued to one another.

People around also gaped at the sight as Sasuke squeezed Naruto's waist and pulled him closer to his body.

Oh, how he loved the attention. He felt like the blonde was a grand prize and he was the lucky guy who won him.

Naruto was thinking about the same thing for the raven.

They reached the car, but the raven didn't stop escorting Naruto. He opened the door to the passenger seat and held the tanned hand gently as the blonde went inside the car. He closed the door and headed for the driver's seat, glancing a bit to the crowd and smirked at several guys who was still eyeing his blonde.

Yes, _his_. Not for now, but one day he'd be able to call Naruto his.

Closing the car's door, he glanced at Naruto who was then grinning at him. He smirked, then he heard the blonde burst out in laughter. Shaking his head at Naruto's convulsion as he laughed, he let out a small laugh, too.

"Have you seen their faces?! They're... hilarious! I was holding myself back not to laugh at their faces! Hahahahaha!"

Sasuke started the engine as he fastened his seatbelt, Naruto did the same. When they got on the main street, Sasuke reached for a drawer; pulling out some pamphlet with the tickets he purchased online that morning. He gave them to Naruto, not bothering to look as the blonde grinned again.

"Cool! I've been really looking forward to this movie since the first time I've seen the cms!" Naruto flipped through the pamphlet, letting out different sounds of excitement while Sasuke smoothly drove along the streets; unaware of the smile gracing his own lips.

It was only the second time they met, even so; it felt strangely natural that they don't have to do the necessary greetings or any other formalities that he did with other people he had just met for the first time.

He felt so... himself…

Like he had been towards his family. He bet it was all thanks to Naruto.

The blonde was obviously aware of his wealth and status. Even so, he didn't act like anyone else at all who does everything to get into the good side of the infamous Uchiha.

No, he didn't. He even had the nerve to call the raven insulting names without holding back; who the hell does that?

Another smile crept up his face, and he cringed when he noticed that the blonde was looking his way – getting embarrassed at being caught. The car halted when the stop light turned to red.

Naruto was rummaging through his pockets, then held out two pieces of a thousand yen bill. Sasuke raised a brow, looking down at the money like he didn't know what the hell it was.

Naruto waved the money in front of his face, brows furrowed when the raven didn't make any move to take it.

"Ticket fee, you awake?" he said in pure confusion.

The light changed into green and Sasuke started the engine again. Naruto's confusion grew, but he withdrew his hand as to not disturb the raven while driving. He didn't stop his mouth from running, though.

"Hey, Mister Uchiha... You better take this money or I won't go anywhere near that seat of yours and will go buy my own movie ticket." The threat felt real that it almost made Sasuke swallow loudly.

He was taken aback. All this time he thought that his plan of taking the blonde on a date without him knowing was perfect and without flaws. He would pay for everything and escort the blonde like any other gentleman would.

Did he make a mistake somewhere?

"Do all rich people think they had to be the one to pay for people?" Naruto huffed a breath, arms crossing as he cringed at the idea of some people taking advantage of rich people's generosity. It didn't fit right to him.

"Wait. You know who I was?" Sasuke asked, keeping an eye on the road as he glance at Naruto finding his gesture very cute though the blonde probably intended to look manly by furrowing his eyebrows.

"Duh. I do read some newspaper and watch TV, y'know. Well, I just don't care. I have my own life to mind. You're just one single citizen of Japan after all."

The 'so-what' attitude Naruto gave Sasuke made him fall for the blonde even harder. It was the first time someone expressed their lack of interest at hearing his family name. The deeper he thought about it, the harder he fell for Naruto. He was glad he had the courage to express his want for further companionship with the blonde that night. He bet he wouldn't meet any other Naruto in his whole life.

"I might be your Prince in a White Horse to save your ass if you ever get in trouble."

Sasuke was glad that the traffic lights turned red, taking that opportunity to glance to his left and he saw that shit-eating grin plastered on the blonde's face.

He relaxed once again; finally letting out that breath he had been holding in as he thought their conversation would get awkward because of his status. He was glad that Naruto was so… natural.

Naruto's smart comments never fail to sweep Sasuke off his feet. He felt himself smile back.

He took the money and inserted them inside his wallet before restarting the engine when the lights turned green again, earning himself a successful huff from Naruto as the blonde thought he won.

Were they competing?

They arrived at the movie theatre around five minutes before the movie start.

Sasuke specifically timed their arrival so he won't make Naruto wait needlessly; but it seemed like he also failed in that aspect. It was obvious when he glanced at the younger guy who was eyeing the souvenir shop; feet seemed aching to run over and look around. He walked closer to Naruto and leaned in to whisper.

"We can buy some souvenir after the movie..."

Naruto beamed at him, making the raven smile in return. Little pleasures like this made the un-Uchiha-like gestures worth it.

Approaching the entrance, several eyes once again glanced their way; well... at Naruto. There was no denying that the blonde was really attractive, but why would he especially be attractive to guys? Well, he didn't not understand because he himself was trying to secretly court Naruto. But can't people see that he was already with someone? And that someone was the Almighty Uchiha Sasuke.

Scowling, Sasuke draped an arm around the blonde's shoulders and pulled the shorter guy closer. Several eyes immediately looked somewhere else as they noticed the handsome guy make possessive gestures to the beautiful blonde; as if saying 'fuck off'.

Naruto was quite oblivious about the interest those guys were throwing at him, he didn't mind the arm around his shoulders. He just thought that it was part of their flirting games that Sasuke played.

They made their way to their designated seats, and before he sat, Sasuke excused himself to the toilet. He hated to leave the blonde alone with the fear that some other guy might make their move on him, but the lights were already dimmed so he deemed it safe somehow.

He came back with a large-sized popcorn and two drinks in hand that made the blonde sigh in defeat. He smirked; he might've failed buying Naruto that ticket, but at least he got to buy him snacks for the movie.

The movie ended after over two hours; Naruto found himself stretching his lithe body, feeling some cracks here and there; earning himself another bout of glances from several guys, probably finding his appreciative moans and groans rather... seductive.

Sasuke appeared to be oozing some devilish aura at his right side; the blonde might be oblivious of the things he cause the people around, but none would escape the raven's dark orbs. When Sasuke noticed Naruto turning to face him, he had to smile awkwardly when the blonde beamed at him with his shiny toothy grin.

Things Naruto did to people.

They drove back to the subway station; being instructed by Naruto that the ramen place was just around the corner, near the police station. Sasuke called to cancel his reservation at the high-class restaurant he frequent. He did promise the blonde he'd accompany him to a ramen after all as the main purpose of his invitation.

He parked his sleek black car at the same building as the karaoke place he and Naruto went to before. They walked almost five minutes to the place.

It was a small store; a bit old, probably over twenty years. Men and women were standing in line outside the shop, waiting for their turn to enter and hopefully get to eat the food right away. The door opened and a group of four young men emerged; looking satisfied for the dinner they just had. The smell of broth penetrated the air and made several stomachs growl in hunger; including Naruto's.

Sasuke felt his eyes grow wide in disbelief. He have had ramen before when he was in college, and that one-time thing was never again to happen; he made sure of that. Just remembering the guilt he felt when he forced himself to swallow the disgusting thing; it wasn't supposed to be edible, right?

That night, though, he found himself getting impatient for waiting so long for the line to get shorter. There was something in that smell that made him anticipate the moment they take their seat inside the old, run-down ramen shop.

He felt eyes on him. He glanced down at Naruto who was then cheekily grinning at him and he snorted. Looks like there won't be any shoving of foods happening that night.

* * *

After that wonderful night, Naruto and Sasuke continued meeting on weekends. Sometimes, the raven would suddenly invite the blonde to dinner on a weekday when work is unusually lesser.

During the month they continued meeting with each other. Sasuke learned that Naruto worked as a lead web designer in his office. He saw some of the blonde's sample works and noted in his mind to introduce them to his company and have him accept some extra project; that was just how great Naruto was with his designs.

There were times when Sasuke was the one being invited and was quite pleased when Naruto seemed to keep in mind what kind of food he liked.

One night, he found himself frowning though as he drove his car all the way back to Naruto's apartment.

"Geez, won't you please get over it already? This is just like, what, the third time I get to pay for our meal!" Naruto's voice may sound annoyed, but there's a hint of amusement there that Sasuke heard _oh so_ clear. Sasuke took a sharp turn to the right that made the blonde bump his head against the window of the car. "Ouch! Dammit, watch it, you bastard!"

Sasuke smirked when he heard that satisfying thud the blonde's head made against the glass of the window.

He learned new feelings in him he didn't know he had as he continued meeting with the blonde.

He learned how not to treat Naruto as some delicate virgin and just act as his closest friend who he can confide with, fight with; laugh with.

This new arrangement was something he didn't expect and finding how he loved this more than what they had the first two weeks made his heart swell more with special feelings towards the blonde.

He loved fighting with Naruto as much as flirting with him.

Sasuke continued sulking as the building where Naruto lived came into view. The blonde was glancing his way with a cute pout. Though he couldn't see it, Sasuke was sure Naruto was looking cute by then

When they reached the parking area, they saw several guys getting off from one of the cars that was parked nearby.

One of the guys, the one who owned one of the units in the building as Sasuke have seen him a few times whenever he send Naruto home, glanced their way – eyes locked on Naruto who was still pouting with his arms crossing against his chest.

Sasuke undid his seat belt and got off the car, eyes on the guy who in turn glared at him. He opened the door of the passenger seat, and was taken aback when he saw Naruto's blushing face as he looked up at the raven.

"What?" Sasuke said, hiding his joy when he barely notice the guy frown at the sight.

"Nothing." Naruto got off the car and that's the time he noticed the group of guys standing not too far away from where they are. "Oh, Good Evening." Naruto greeted as he bow his head, acknowledging their presence.

The guy who was standing at the middle of the group bowed his head in return and smiled at Naruto.  
"Good Evening."

For Naruto, the conversation ended there, but for the guy, it didn't.

His eyes still lingered even when Naruto turned his back and went back to talking with Sasuke.

The other guys who were with him also looked at Naruto in a strange way that Sasuke's 'radar' went off immediately.

He looked their way and noticed the obvious aversion of their eyes, pretending to be busy with their own conversation.

This would be a difficult night if he ever leave the blonde like this. So...

"Let's go." Sasuke said as he grabbed Naruto's hand and dragged him towards the elevator.

Naruto had no idea what had gotten into him, but before the doors of the elevator close, he caught a glimpse of the guys' frowning faces as they glared at Sasuke. Just then, he realized what was going on.

He was a guy.

He could protect himself against harassment of any other guys.

He had been able to protect himself until now, just even before he and Neji went out. But guys in a group like that would definitely be difficult. He was thankful for Sasuke being attentive like this, but...

"You didn't have to go out of your way to do this, you know?" he said. Hands still enclosed within slightly larger one.

Sasuke glanced down at him, irritation still plastered on his face.

He didn't want his intention to get through Naruto like this, he deserved a more special way to be confessed to and Sasuke would like to give him that special confession one day – once he was sure that his actions would be fair – not taking advantage of someone who suffered from a broken heart.

However, if he leave Naruto alone knowing that some guys are probably trying to get a chance to get to him, worried him to no end.

He knew it though.

Naruto was not his.

Well, not yet.

Besides, the blonde wasn't saying anything, but he was still probably hung up to his ex-boyfriend.

All the times they were going out for lunch, dinner, karaoke, never once did the talk about the 'break-up' come up.

Sasuke never asked.

Naruto wouldn't open up, either.

They were maintaining their 'close' relationship, with a limit, he thought.

"If I don't, I'll never get any sleep out of guilt. Just let me." the raven plainly said just after the door of the elevator open. They walked a bit before reaching Naruto's room, Sasuke finally letting go.

"How sweet of you." Naruto played the part of a girlfriend being spoiled by his boyfriend, _again_.

The flirting games they do sometimes leave a good sensation.

That was what Naruto thought.

But he knew he shouldn't wish any further than that.

Sasuke's friendship with him was quite unique, given they met in a really unique way.

Hoping for something greater than that would probably be... bad. Considering he was still recovering from a heartbreak.

"Goodnight." he said, his voice lacking some enthusiasm.

Sasuke heard the words 'I'm tired' behind the simple greeting from the blonde and realized that Naruto might want to be alone, so he didn't push anymore.

"Yes, goodnight."

Whenever they say goodbye to each other, they made it a habit to play their parts as 'boyfriends'. Sasuke would always kiss Naruto on his forehead. Today was not an exemption.

Just as he finished the deed, he caught a glimpse of Naruto's flushed cheeks as the blonde turn away to keep it hidden.

He heard himself swallow in anticipation.

Did his feelings get through to the blonde? Was their flirting games getting through to him as something special?

The blonde had always been special in his eyes, he wondered what the blonde thought of him.

He caught Naruto's hand and squeezed on it, making the blonde tense up.

 _No…_

He squeezed the hand again and raised that same hand to pet Naruto's soft blonde hair.

"Goodnight." He said again. "Hurry and go inside, or I won't be able to go home." Sasuke casually said, smiling sweetly at Naruto.

Naruto looked up and returned the sweet smile with his own brilliant ones.

"Be careful." He said as he went inside, Sasuke closing the door gently.

He heard the blonde lock the door. It was his cue to get going.

Putting his hands inside his pockets, he walked towards the elevator.

 _Too early. It's still too early. I have to give him time to completely forget about his past boyfriend. It's okay. I will make him forget his feelings for that guy._

Sasuke promised to himself as he smiled a bit, thinking how he probably changed from being selfish to being quite the gentleman for his blonde.

He felt his phone that was inside his pocket vibrate. He fished it out and saw the preview of Naruto's message. He smiled as he unlocked the gadget, reading the lines very carefully.

「出会いは偶然がくれた軌跡」 _  
"Meetings" are miracles given to us by coincidences._

「未来は一緒に作って行こう」  
 _Let us make a future together._

「例えば行き先は見えない時は、  
 _If you ever lose sight of where to go,_

「振り返れば、僕はここに立っている」  
 _Just look back, I am here, standing._

Smiling at the sweet song quotations Naruto sent him, Sasuke's chest were once again filled with determination. He will definitely make this beautiful person happy.

Putting his phone back inside his pocket, he went out of the elevator a bit delighted. He had another good thing to share with his older brother.

* * *

Author's Note:

The song lyrics I quoted in this chapter was from 「Forever Lullaby」by Miyano Mamoru. For those who didn't know, Miyano Mamoru was Ichinose Tokiya's voice actor, one of the lovely princes from 「Uta no Prince-sama」anime.

Thank You for reading!

Please don't forget to drop by the review section and lay some bomb! *wink*


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: Naruto found out that his boyfriend of eight years got a girl pregnant. Not one to deprive a kid of their own father, he chose to break things off; ignoring his own broken heart. Then a gentleman came and took his mind off the hurtful things by... well, singing him sweet songs.

* * *

Warning: AU / Yaoi (boyxboy) / SasuNaru (A bit ooc Sasuke)  
I'm just a rookie so I don't have any idea what a songfic is or how it is written. If anyone could tell, it is highly appreciated. I included some song lyrics in this fic that can probably give some of you goose bumps because, really, even I think that it's a bit too corny. But I need this for the plot, so spare me! *wink*

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

CHAPTER 5

* * *

Naruto got out of the bath tub after soaking for near thirty minutes. Taking a long soak after a day of hard work was the best feeling aside from eating two to three bowls of Miso Ramen.

He draped the towel around his waist after half-drying his hair with it. The notice light of his phone above the closed lid of the washing machine flickered. He was smiling already even before he grab the device.

 _Sasuke, huh._

The excitement he always felt whenever he see notifications on his phone left nice sensations that makes his heart swell.

He found himself a great friend in Sasuke.

The guy was a gentleman. He would always treat Naruto nicely and with care and when they argue, he would feel the guy fight with him as enthusiastically as himself – he always thought there were never a wall between them.

Sasuke's flirting games are the sweetest thing he ever experienced. Going along with it felt nice. However, he always remind himself that these games are, well, just games to Sasuke and the moment he takes them seriously – his friendship with Sasuke will end.

He didn't want that.

Sasuke is special.

Reading Sasuke's message squeezed on his heart again.

 _No… This is just a game… Just a…_

 _ **Sasuke: Eve, honey. How's work? Have you had your dinner? If not, wanna get some together? I'm at the station near your apartment.**_

 _Game…_

Naruto's left hand unconsciously made its way to his chest, hands in a tight grip as if squeezing his heart so the excitement won't overflow.

Today marked the third month since he met Sasuke. They have had fights and misunderstandings mostly about Sasuke's overprotection for Naruto's safety against guys who targets him.

Sasuke had always expressed his worry about the Shirai guy who stayed at the same building as Naruto. The guy would always bring his friends in his house and there were many times they encounter the group at the parking lot – Naruto greeting them politely while the guys snickered as they check him out.

There was no way Naruto would not notice the extra attention he was given, but nothing happened the past three months so he shrugged the idea and insisted that it was simply 'over-reacting' on Sasuke's part.

This fight lasted them only a day when Sasuke fetched him from work and brought him to Ichiraku's as a way to apologize for his over-reaction.

" _Let's fight again tomorrow!"_ Naruto told Sasuke that night and he earned himself a smack on his forehead and a smirk from the raven.

These fights made him feel closer to the raven.

He tapped at his mobile phone for his reply.

 _ **Naruto: Ramen?**_

He would always be in the mood for ramen after all. He felt the phone vibrate again when he was about to put it back down, pouting when he read the message.

 _ **Sasuke: That thing makes my mouth smell foul. I need to get back to my office after dinner, so maybe next time?**_

It couldn't be helped, right?

 _So he's that busy?_

Even so, making time to eat dinner with him despite being busy was enough reason to feel happy and thankful.

He really loves Sasuke…. _No_ , his presence. He loves Sasuke's presence. He couldn't just easily admit to himself how big Sasuke's existence had grown inside him.

Shaking his head as he reprimand himself for swimming in thoughts, he replied again – heading for the closet to get some clothes.

 _ **Naruto: 'kay. Be right there in a few..**_

* * *

Sasuke smiled as he read the message; feeling a bit regretful for not being able to bring Naruto to his favorite ramen shop. Work piled up more and more every single day since his brother just successfully earned themselves three new partners overseas.

He loved his work. His and Itachi's brilliant minds create great results that even their father wouldn't hesitate to praise their work in front of his friends. He was not being vocal about it, but he had always been looking up to his big brother and Itachi's existence was the sole reason he did his job perfectly.

That night, when he was just about to get off work early, he gt another bout of deskwork from his big brother.

" _You can cry 'Nii-chan' for help if you'd like." Said Itachi while giving Sasuke a taunting smile._

 _Sasuke reviewed the documents and Itachi could see how enthusiastic the younger raven was as he plan in his mind how he would finish the additional workload._

" _Nii-chan." Sasuke said as he smirk triumphantly, already imagining himself offering his report to the president's table._

" _Damn, cheeky brat." Itachi said, walking forward to tap Sasuke's forehead with his index and middle finger, earning a cheeky grin from Sasuke that he would only show in front of Itachi._

Sasuke noticed the time. Thirty minutes have already passed since his call with the blonde. The apartment was just a ten-minute walk from the station – he wondered what happened.

He called Naruto again, but then the call was rejected.

He felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach. He immediately started the engine and went for the exit of the parking lot.

After ending the call with Sasuke, Naruto arranged his hair and fixed his clothes. He grabbed his keys, wallet and phone before exiting his apartment.

He thought about driving his way to the station to lessen Sasuke's waiting time, but thought against it right away as he thought of how the raven would react if he ever bring his own car when he could just send him home with his. The station was just a ten-minute walk anyway.

Jogging his way out of the building and into the streets, he decided to make a detour to the nearest convenience store. He was out of toothpaste, and he wouldn't want to stall Sasuke on their way home as the guy would have to go back to his office after meal.

There was a small park near the convenience store where several guys were talking and drinking.

 _Hey, hey, hey. You'll be caught by the police, y'know?_

He thought as he walked past them.

One guy caught a glimpse of him, then he stood up to call out.

"Good Evening!"

Naruto turned to see if it really was for him, or not. He recognized the face.

"Oh, Shirai-san. Good Evening. So it was you? Wouldn't you get in trouble drinking here?"

The guys behind Shirai also stood up to express their greetings. They all stink of alcohol.

However, Naruto felt a little dizzy when he smelled something different from the usual smell of cigarette.

 _W-Wait. Is that?_

Shirai caught on what Naruto was thinking. He immediately draped an arm around the blonde's shoulder – whispering into his ears.

"Sshhh… Don't tell anyone or you'd get in trouble. Oh I know. Wanna play with us? You're not together with that sissy boyfriend of yours. Aren't you lonely tonight?"

Naruto felt another wave of dizziness as the smell got stronger.

 _Dammit._

"Sorry. I was about to meet him, so please excuse me." He said, trying to get the bigger guy's arm away from him.

He doubled-over. He didn't know what happened until he felt pain on his stomach.

 _Wait… What… Did he just?_

Shirai used a knee to hit him hard on his stomach. He and his companions were on drugs after all.

Naruto coughed as he felt for his stomach, feeling the searing pain. It would definitely bruise.

"Talk about being rude. I just invited you to play with me and you plan to go to your man's place? What, you gonna fuck today, too?" Shirai grabbed Naruto's blonde locks, another hand making its way to tanned cheeks as he leaned closer to Naruto.

"Hey. What are these? Tattoo? Whiskers. Why, how cute. You a fox or something?"

Shirai leaned closer and closer until his lips were a few centimeters from Naruto's.

"Let go of him."

They both heard the voice of a guy Naruto knew very well as Shirai was sent flying, hitting the ground with a grunt.

"The fuck –"

Blue orbs met pale ones as Naruto look straight into Neji's eyes – mouth opened wide in surprise.

"You wait here." Naruto heard Neji say as the brunette fished out his phone from his pocket, grabbing Shirai's shirt's collar as he dialled on his phone.

"Hello. Please come at xxx Block near Lewson convenience store. There are five individuals who uses drugs on a park. Oh, and they committed violence, so please hurry." Neji heard the police instruct another police before the call ended. He then used his phone to take a picture of the guys along with Shirai so if they happen to escape, they will be found immediately.

He turned to Shirai again, his pale eyes changed into an eerie glow.

"You hurt Naruto. I won't forgive you." He said in a menacing voice before he swung his arm and punched Shirai, the guy lost his consciousness as he hit the ground.

The other people just stayed quiet, cowering in fear when Neji turned to look at them.

"No, Neji. Stop! It's fine already!"

Neji's face turned back to normal again when he heard Naruto. He kneeled down to see Naruto's injury.

Naruto felt his heart skip a beat as Neji closed their distance.

They stared at each other for who knows how long.

"Naruto?"

Naruto looked up.

It was Sasuke.

"Sasuke..." he heard himself whisper as the raven look down at him, eyes focused on his blue weary ones.

"You okay? Can you stand?" Sasuke spoke in a very gentle tone, separating Naruto from Neji and helping him up.

Neji looked at the two. Eyes wide in shock as he could feel how intimate the two were.

 _Why?_

Neji knew who Sasuke was. However, he couldn't see any connection between Sasuke and Naruto, so his mind swam circles on how to ask who Sasuke was in Naruto's life. Was it possible that Naruto found his replacement, and of all people, it was the almost too perfect Uchiha Sasuke?

Naruto's heart was beating loud and fast. It had been close to four months since he last met Neji and heard his voice. Four months, and still, the pain and the love he felt for the guy was still there – it never faded.

 _Fuck…_

The pain he was feeling creeping up through his chest drowned out the pain he felt earlier when he was hit by Shirai.

The police came and started questioning them, asking them to come to the police station for the report.

After almost just fifteen minutes of being asked several questions by the police, Neji, Naruto and Sasuke found themselves standing at the same spot even after the police brought the accused drug users away.

Neji didn't expect meeting Naruto in this area as he had just met with a close friend. He was glad, though, that he came in the right time. He couldn't forget the furious anger he felt the moment he saw Naruto being hit. Just remembering that made his stomach churn in anger, again.

Shirai was lucky he got away with just a punch across his face. Neji was a genius martial artist since childhood – if Naruto didn't stop him, he might've beaten everyone half to death.

That was what Naruto thought looking at Neji who was obviously repeating in his mind how to slug Shirai to death by now.

He didn't expect the brunette to look up as their gazes locked into each other.

 _Shit._

He still loved Neji.

He was able to forget about Neji while he spent his time with Sasuke. Whenever he was alone, though, the brunette's face would just appear in his mind – haunting him with his memories with Neji.

Sweet memories. Happy memories. Sad memories. Painful memories.

The memories of when he express how much he loved the brunette, and how he was being loved in return.

Was it really this hard to forget about someone who once completed his life?

Sasuke stared between the two. They were obviously thinking about each other. He felt like he shouldn't be there, but he wanted to be there.

It was obvious how they hurt each other by just being in the same place doing nothing.

Looking down, he noticed how Naruto's hand balled into a fist, shaking.

It was his sign to step in and help the blonde. That was the purpose of his existence after all.

The only purpose of his existence in Naruto's life.

"Thank you for lending a hand." Sasuke spoke, pretending he didn't know who Neji was as well as who he was in Naruto's life. He wanted to leave the introductions to Naruto if the blonde ever felt the need to.

There was also the possibility that the blonde didn't want Neji to misunderstand that there was something going on between the two of them.

Naruto immediately understood Sasuke's intentions. The raven decided to play it fair, so Naruto moved to stand between Sasuke and Neji.

"Neji. Thank you. You saved me." He started, his right hand scratching on his left elbow.

Neji knew this habit of Naruto when he's nervous or anxious. It sparked some hope in him that even after several months of not seeing each other, there was still the possibility that Naruto still held special feelings for him.

He decided to acknowledge the presence of the raven. He knew who Sasuke was. He wanted to know how Naruto met the Uchiha, though.

"It is my pleasure to meet you given such a situation, Uchiha Sasuke-san. I am –"

"Hyuuga Neji, yes. The pleasure's all mine." Sasuke said, cutting in as Neji was about to introduce himself.

They knew of each other's existence, though unbeknownst to Neji – Sasuke knew more than that.

They shook hands for a brief moment as Neji spoke again.

"I didn't know you were an acquaintance of Uzumaki Naruto here. I was his classmate during high school, by the way, and stayed acquainted with him since then." Neji's announcement proved to be egging Sasuke to explain how he met Naruto.

Naruto couldn't find the perfect timing nor the words to speak to either of the two. He forgot that these two are quite famous not to know of each other, given that they're working in the same scope of business.

"Same here. Though it was only recently that I got to know him. I asked him to do several web designs for one of our company's clients after meeting him in one of our conference. Well, his interesting personality made him comfortable to be acquainted with. We were just about to go out drinking tonight. He was getting late that I got worried, I am thankful you were there to his rescue." Sasuke said politely.

He made sure none of his words would reveal any lie or his romantic interest towards Naruto, nor their close friendship and playful flirting. He knew Naruto would hate Neji misunderstanding something.

"No. My friend's house was around here. I was just making my way back to the station where I parked my car." Neji explained.

Naruto found his voice back again, looking up at Neji – avoiding his pale orbs.

"T-Thanks… again. I wouldn't know what would happen if you haven't been there."

Neji looked at Naruto carefully, noticing how his hand squeezed on his stomach.

"Let me take you to the hospital. It still hurts, right?" Neji offered, reaching a hand to touch Naruto's.

Naruto stepped back, his back touching Sasuke's chest. Neji noticed how both of them didn't mind the close distance, rather, they seemed used to it. It made him feel alarmed.

He had never seen Naruto get comfortable like this with anyone aside him, Iruka, or his other close friends.

 _Could it be that…?_

"I can go there myself. You were about to go home, right? Thanks." Naruto turned to Sasuke then. "Sorry, Sasuke. I know you went all the way here, but can we meet again another day? You have work to finish, right?"

Sasuke could just throw everything away just to accompany Naruto to the hospital or to anywhere he liked. He knew that the blonde's unexpected encounter with his ex-boyfriend roused past emotions – it was obvious with the way Naruto avoid not only Neji's, but his eyes as well.

Naruto wanted to be alone.

"I understand. Then, see you some other time." Sasuke said, though his chest felt heavy as he fought the urge to latch himself beside the blonde, drape his arm around his waist and escort him to his car that was parked at the nearby convenience store. He walked away as he gave up when the blonde didn't even look up to meet his eyes.

 _Shit._

He knew he had already fallen hard for the blonde as he felt pain for being pushed away.

 _Shit. Shit!_

He wanted to run back and enclose the blonde within his arms. Fists in a tight ball and teeth gritted, he forced his feet to continue walking towards his car.

Neji watched Sasuke leisurely walk back to his car and drove off into the streets. He didn't see any other sign that would prove any intimate relationship between the raven and the blonde in front of him so he relaxed a bit.

Looking at Naruto again, he noticed how the blonde seemed anxious still. Was it his presence?

"Naruto-"

"Bye." Naruto said, running off to go back to his apartment.

Neji didn't follow the blonde, for he knew Naruto would just send him away if he ever attempt to try and have a talk with him.

He turned to continue walking back to the station – then he stopped.

 _Fuck all the thinking._

He ran after Naruto, full speed.

Sasuke was deep in thoughts as he waited for the traffic lights to turn green. His mind was full of Naruto's thoughts – his face full of anxiety, his quivering lips, how he avoided eye-contact.

 _Shit. Shit! Fuck!_

He slammed both his hand onto the car's handle, teeth gritted.

It was the first he ever felt frustrated his whole life. He wanted to scream. He wanted to break something. His chest felt tight and painful, his eyes were getting hot.

Oh, how he loved Naruto.

He didn't even know any more if it was okay for him to just walk away just as he was told when it was obvious how shaken Naruto was.

 _Naruto…_

He made a sharp turn, planning to go straight to Naruto's apartment. He knew Naruto wouldn't go to the hospital and just stay in his apartment to cry alone.

 _I won't let you be alone._

Naruto was walking with his hands clutched against his stomach which was still aching. It was probably the first time he got hit hard like that. His heart was still beating faster as he recall how Neji saved him from Shirai. His heartbeat went twice as fast again when Neji and Sasuke faced each other. He felt his knee shake when he recalled Sasuke's retreating back as he left without saying anything back.

He wondered how Sasuke thought about him. Did he ruin their friendship? Was the raven disappointed? Sasuke was considerate enough not to reveal anything about the nature of their companionship. It was pure friendship after all.

 _Well, that's how it was anyway._

His heart almost jumped out of his mouth when he felt someone grab his wrist in a tight grip. He didn't have the time to guess who it was when he felt his body being enveloped by a tight embrace – the smell of this person was the thing that told him who it was.

 _Neji…_

His throat tightened, he felt his heart swell with different emotions as he let the guy embrace his body oh so tightly.

He didn't know what to think as he let his heart and body decide what his next move will be.

He felt Neji's nose nuzzle through his blonde locks, the brunette smelling his rather sweet fragrance. He just got out of the bath, after all.

Neji breathed in Naruto's sweet scent, sighing as he spoke of the blonde's name very dearly.

"Naruto…"

Naruto's heart skipped a beat.

Tears flowed as he bit his lower lip, hands gripping the hem of his shirt – preventing himself from draping his arms around Neji.

He put all the stops in his body, he cannot put all the stops in his heart.

He loved Neji. Still loved him. He didn't forget about the brunette. Not the memories of him, nor the feelings he had for him. His embrace. His kisses. His gentle voice, his hot breath.

Everything he loved about Neji.

How he wished from the bottom of his heart that everything was alright between them. That they can be together again – that he could be selfish and claim Neji only for himself.

But he can't.

He shouldn't.

"Let go of me, Neji…" he heard himself say the words, not liking how it sounded so lonely and desperate.

"That means, _Hold me tighter_ , right?" Neji whispered into his ears, making his body shiver as Neji really held his body tighter and closer to his own. "Naruto… I miss you."

 _No…_

Sasuke watched, heart beating in painful throbs as Neji held Naruto in his arms stronger.

He had been there for the last five minutes, hearing their exchanged words – seeing how much the two loved each other.

He could see how Naruto tried his best not to hug Neji back. He could understand why – Naruto was trying not to be selfish when he could really get selfish all he wants. He should be. He was a beautiful creature that deserved the greatest happiness.

He shouldn't be stopping himself from saying what he really want; telling the person how he really loved and treasure them.

He also understood, though, that Naruto decided to do what's right.

It was his role to help Naruto with that.

He stepped in, grabbing Neji's arms and prying it off Naruto as he pulled the blonde close to his own body.

He felt sorry for Neji, as he could see how much he loved Naruto. But this person was the very reason why the blonde suffer from a heartbreak – so he decided to erase his existence from Naruto's life completely.

"I apologize that we had to lie to you about the nature of our relationship, but I would appreciate it if you stay away from my lover." He announced, his arm that was around Naruto's shoulder tighten its hold, his other hand gently shoved Neji away from the blonde.

Neji stared in utter shock.

So his instincts were right. There really was something going on between them.

"N-Naruto?"

Naruto heard Neji ask millions of questions within the desperate voice he used calling his name.

 _This is the right thing to do._

He used his hands to gently push on Sasuke's chest, turning to look straight at Neji's pale eyes. He nodded, eyes full of determination.

 _This is the right thing._

Neji felt his tears flow.

Naruto found someone else.

Naruto already replaced him with someone else.

Naruto wasn't his anymore.

Naruto doesn't love him anymore.

All these thoughts filled his mind as he stared at Naruto and Sasuke, still embracing each other, both their eyes on him.

He didn't care if he looked pathetic in front of these two – he just cried there like an idiot, thinking his world that was already in disarray once again being destroyed by heartache and loneliness.

"Is it really already over between the two of us?" he heard himself whisper, not sure if the two men if front of him heard his voice.

"He looks like he would take very good care of you." He whispered again.

He smiled and looked at Naruto straight in his eyes.

"Goodbye."

As the words left his mouth, he turned away and walked fast – his body shook in great grief.

This would be the last time he'd express his love for Naruto. He would close the lid to his heart tight and let time heal it until he was ready to accept that Naruto is gone.

When they can't see the brunette anymore, Naruto collapsed – Sasuke catching him in time as they both kneeled down the ground.

Naruto's whole body shook as he screamed, voiceless scream, eyes red and tears flowed endlessly – his forehead against Sasuke as the raven used his hand to stroke the blonde's back gently.

Seeing Neji's face full of tears, eyes filled with hurt, and hearing his voice shake in desperateness – crushed his world more than anything he could imagine.

Neji still loved him, and he still loved Neji back.

However, the second he heard the word 'goodbye' from Neji's lips was the worst goodbye he ever had his whole life.

Will he ever get over this?

Sasuke's chest felt tight and painful at seeing his loved one cry over his past love.

What could he ever do aside from staying beside Naruto?

He can't force his feelings on him. So what else could he do to help Naruto recover from his heart break, slowly but surely?

He blinked. Then he smiled.

 _「疲れたなら方の荷をおろして」_ _  
If you're tired, put down the weight you are carrying on your shoulders._

 _「今だけは言うよ、おやすみ」_ _  
I'll say it only now, "Goodnight"_

 _「闇をさく_ _MOONLIGHT_ _」_ _  
The moonlight that cuts through the darkness_

 _「導く光を僕が照らすから。。」_ _  
I'll illuminate the guiding light._

Hearing Sasuke's sweet voice with the sweet words made Naruto stop sobbing. He looked up and saw the raven look down at him straight into his eyes, smiling.

"Let's get you home?" Sasuke asked in a gentle voice, using a hand to wipe away Naruto's tears – though they still continued flowing.

Sasuke felt warmth inside his chest as he stare at Naruto's eyes, his thumb continuously wiping tears away. He leaned down to press his lips over Naruto's left eye, Naruto closing his eyes automatically as he felt the warm sensation over his eyelids. Sasuke did the same to his right eye. He continued wiping Naruto's tears away as Sasuke press his lips on the blonde's forehead, his head, his ears.

Everywhere.

He continuously did these sweet things until Naruto stopped crying.

They stared into each other's eyes; the other one full of question while the other one full of reassurance.

He would stay by Naruto's side until his heart became completely healed.

That was a promise.

"Let's go home." Sasuke repeated, helping Naruto up. The blonde collapsed again as he felt his stomach in great pain.

"Ngghh… I-I guess we have to visit the hospital first." Naruto said, laughing a bit when he saw Sasuke's concerned eyes on him. Sasuke nodded, hooking Naruto's left arm over his shoulder and helped the blonde as they walk their way to Sasuke's car that was parked nearby.

Naruto secretly glanced Sasuke's way, smiling as he realized how Sasuke's existence made a big impact in his life. If Sasuke wasn't there, he might have done the worst thing – getting selfish and claiming Neji only for himself. That, or he would stay selfless and drown in his own tears.

Sasuke saved him from either, and he thought of how to return the favour.

He could only think of one thing.

He stopped walking, making Sasuke look at him.

"Why did yo- "

Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Naruto smile at him like he had never seen that smile many times before. So sweet and adorable.

"I'm glad you're here, Sasuke. Thank you."

Naruto's right arm hooked themselves over his shoulder as Sasuke felt himself embraced by his blonde companion.

"Thank you for being here, Sasuke." Naruto repeated the words, tightening his hug as he felt Sasuke's arms drape around his body.

"What are you saying? That's so not like you. What wouldn't I give to make my angel happy?" Sasuke said, making Naruto laugh as they let go.

 _So he's back to playing our favorite game, huh?_

Naruto thought Sasuke was just resuming their flirting games to make him feel better. For Sasuke, though, every word he said were true. Naruto is and will always be his angel.

Naruto continued watching Sasuke as they resumed walking to his car, wondering how long it will take for his feelings for Neji to completely dissipate.

He knew it wouldn't be easy, for Neji had been his whole life for the past eight years. The friends they had during high school were separated, minding their own lives. Of course they would keep in touch, but they'd barely met and have fun like they used to. The only person close to him that didn't completely removed himself from him was Iruka.

Iruka, his foster-parent since he was ten, had been his only salvation in his life. However, he couldn't bring himself to tell the man how he and Neji ended – because the trust Iruka had for Neji would disappear. The older brunette treated Neji like his own brother, his own family – just as what he had been to Naruto, he can't bring himself to hurt the two for his sake.

That's right. Family.

He was doing everything for Neji's future child. He wanted the child to have the love of both their parents – to have a perfect family life every child deserved.

He had Iruka, but during his younger years when he was still living in the orphanage, he cried each night – looking for his mother and father.

Neji also lost his parents in his early years.

They both knew how painful it was looking for someone who was not even there.

He didn't want any child experience what he and Neji did, that was why he had to let go.

Neji would understand it someday, and of course – they will become friends again. That was what Naruto truly hoped.

Sasuke sent Naruto home after visiting the hospital that night. His bruise might take long to heal, but there were no other internal damages. He was advised to avoid heavy labor, though. Not like he did that, though. His job only needed his brain, his eyes, and his hands while sitting comfortably on his office chair.

Sasuke guided Naruto inside his apartment, that night being the first time he entered inside the blonde's room. He felt the urge to take in what Naruto's room looked like, but he was busy assisting Naruto.

"Hey, I can walk on my own already. It doesn't hurt that much anymore. Anyway, let me offer you a drink, I'm getting thirsty myself after all." Naruto said, removing his arm that was hooked over Sasuke's shoulders. Sasuke complied, taking this chance to observe his surroundings.

The kitchen and dining area were in one room that probably measured six tatami mat. The bathroom and toilet were separated and adjacent to one another, the washing area positioned between them.

The bedroom was just next to the kitchen dining area, separated by a wooden sliding door. He guessed that the room was also six tatami mat wide like most 1LDK did.

The decorations were all in different colors, as well as the different necessary things a simple room had. He couldn't comprehend, though, why Naruto felt the need to decorate his wall with that instant cup ramen poster of some brand he haven't heard of before.

"Surprised at how my room screams _'Naruto!'_ , huh?" Sasuke heard the blonde spoke, placing a cup in front of him – pouring the instant green tea he prepared in a haste. "Sorry, this was all I had. I don't really take visitors."

Sasuke wondered how Naruto's life inside and outside his room differ. Outside, he seemed like some outgoing dorky guy who enjoys talking with people. Inside, though, he only seemed someone who avoided society.

"There was a time during high school when I withdrew myself from society and didn't come to school for a whole week." Naruto said, his eyes focused on the ripples of the tea he was blowing on.

Sasuke's breath stopped as he wait for the continuation of Naruto's story. It was the first time he heard the blonde talk about something so private like this.

Naruto smiled sadly at the memory, making himself comfortable in his seat – as he started narrating one of the most traumatic experience he ever had his whole life.

* * *

Author's Note:

The song lyrics I quoted in this chapter was from 「Moonlight」by Miyano Mamoru.

I guess you already realized how I love Miyano-san? ^^


	6. Chapter 6

Summary: Naruto found out that his boyfriend of eight years got a girl pregnant. Not one to deprive a kid of their own father, he chose to break things off; ignoring his own broken heart. Then a gentleman came and took his mind off the hurtful things by... well, singing him sweet songs.

* * *

Warning: AU / Yaoi (boyxboy) / SasuNaru (A bit ooc Sasuke)  
I'm just a rookie so I don't have any idea what a songfic is or how it is written. If anyone could tell, it is highly appreciated. I included some song lyrics in this fic that can probably give some of you goose bumps because, really, even I think that it's a bit too corny. But I need this for the plot, so spare me! *wink*

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

CHAPTER 6

* * *

 _I was an out-of-season transfer student, then, on a month of October. Iruka-sensei had been transferred to another school in the next prefecture, so I had to go with him._

 _It was a co-ed school, though it had been an all-boys school two years prior. It was a private school with only rich students_ _– however, with Iruka-sensei as my guardian, they accepted me as a scholar when I passed their special admission exam – of course with the help of my foster father's Sparta teaching.._

 _I was introduced to my classmates as Iruka-sensei's adopted son, making me blush for it seemed that my situation was quite interesting for them._

 _They learned how high I scored in the test and praised me for it. They tried to get along with me, making me feel comfortable – I earned many friends in an instant._

 _The class had only ten girls while the boys were about twenty. One of them had a very noisy personality, always barking all through the vacant periods, egging me to bark with him._

 _That was when I met my friends._

 _Kiba was especially close to me, dragging me to different classes to introduce me to his friends._

 _I remember him having a crush on one of the girls in class five. She looked like a princess, especially her pale-colored eyes – it was the first time I've seen someone with those pearly orbs._

 _The rest of my early days in that school have been really fun and Kiba's friends who also became my friends had always been there to make me laugh._

 _Every day, I would tell Iruka-sensei stories about my friends. Seeing his happy expression as I told him every fun moments with my friends was the happiest I've ever been. It made me realize how much he really loved and treasured me._

 _On our second year of high school, I met Neji – high school senior, cousin of Kiba's princess(or so he say), Hinata._

 _Neji had the same pearly orbs as Hinata._

 _That was when my struggle started._

 _I felt that Neji had always been extra kind to me since the day we met. He never missed a single day fetching me from my house, walking with me to school, asking me out for lunch at the cafeteria, and sending me home._

 _I was too late to realize he was courting me._

 _However, I didn't really understand anything about love back then. I genuinely thought of Neji as a friend._

 _One afternoon, I was waiting for Neji at the shoe lockers. He promised to send me home after finishing his student council duties, several guys approached me as they scattered around me with smirks on their faces._

 _Based on the badge on their uniforms, they were all third years, same as Neji._

 _It seemed that they were all the delinquents of that school and they all had problems with Neji._

 _They used me as they learned that I was Neji's weakness; though in fact I didn't really think the guy would actually come for my rescue._

 _They dragged me to one of the unused club rooms behind the school, locking the door as they threw me into the pile of old mattresses. I can't really remember everything that happened back then. However, their conversation had probably been very scary for me to forget the words they used._

" _Hey. Take a few pictures. We will send them to Hyuuga later." One of the guys said, walking towards me and leaning down as he grabbed my collar._

" _I heard you're that long hair's sweet heart? Hey, so you're a fag? Does he do you every day?" he said, licking his lips as he stared at me from head to toe. He leered as his eyes turned from condescending to lusty-filled ones._

 _I heard myself gasp when I felt his hand on my inner thigh._

" _Let me have a taste?" The guy asked as the other guys took pictures and videos of me being stripped off my clothes._

 _I whined, trying my best to close my legs to no avail. They were holding my wrists and prying my legs open, laughing at the way I started pleading for them to stop._

 _They played with my body, touched me whenever they please as they opened their front zippers and started masturbating in front of me._

 _They decided to go further, stripping me off my boxers as they all stared at my nakedness – their hands that was on their private part went faster and harder._

 _I felt myself breathing fast and uncontrollable as I try to protect my behind from being taken._

 _That was when Neji came, breaking the door down and mercilessly knocked everyone down with only two to three punches – making them unable to move as they lay on the floor half-naked._

 _He made his way towards me, removed his own uniform and draped them over my naked body before hugging me tightly._

 _I shook in fear and cried really loud. I recall calling Iruka-sensei's name many times until he came and took Neji's place, enveloping my small body into his._

 _I lost consciousness after that._

 _Five days passed and I still refused to go to school. Iruka was worried about leaving me alone in the apartment so he took a week of paid leave and stayed with me instead._

 _I was informed that those five students were kicked out of school as punishment – they were lucky the thing never made it to the social media, or their family names would be put to shame._

 _It seemed that Neji's family were very influential; one word from the head of the family and they will be stripped off their names mercilessly._

 _I asked Iruka to prevent it from happening, and the Hyuuga family complied._

 _Neji came more than twice to check on me during those times, making promises that the same thing won't happen twice and that he'd always be the one to save me, and he would always be there to protect me._

 _I didn't know how I felt for Neji back then, but his presence made me feel comfortable._

* * *

"I went back to school after Neji promised me how he would always stay by my side and never leave me. I guess that was when I started to have feelings for him." Naruto ended his story as he poured their third cup of tea. He was then standing beside Sasuke, smiling dearly at the memory of when Neji finally voiced his feelings for him.

"He was my world. My life revolved around him. When we were together, it felt like I didn't need anything else but him." The blonde went back to his seat, taking a sip of his tea – somehow feeling awkward so he avoided Sasuke's eyes.

It was the first time they had a talk about his personal thoughts, so Naruto felt like he'd been bearing his soul in front of his special friend.

"I haven't loved anyone but him all these years. We had fights. We also experienced long distance relationship. When someone tried to get close to me, he would accuse me of cheating many times but whenever it was proved wrong, he would take me anywhere I want or buy me anything I need as a form of apology.

Of course I would refuse. It hurt me that he trust me little, as he would always think that every guy who talk to me would want to get into my pants." The blonde laughed, shaking his head as he thought how Neji had always been the jealous type.

"I see nothing but him, though. I wonder why he couldn't understand that fact."

 _Present Tense._

Sasuke listened quietly all night. It made him feel conflicted; feeling happy at finally hearing the blonde talk about himself and feeling hurt as he learn of how much the brunette really meant for Naruto.

 _He loved Naruto that much, but somehow, that love became possessive._

He knew how wrong Neji's love was. He should have made Naruto feel that he was being trusted – that no matter how many guys or girls approach him, he would trust Naruto's words about how much he loved him and how he was the only guy in his whole life.

"If it was me, I would certainly prioritize your happiness more than anything. I would trust you more than anything. Should you ever fall in love with someone else, as long as it makes you happy – I would accept it, no matter how hard it is." Sasuke spoke these words unconsciously. He wasn't aware how surprised Naruto was to hear those words from him.

Those were the words that he wanted to hear from Neji for so long.

Naruto smiled, tears running down his cheeks as he spoke in return – making Sasuke stand up from where he sat and kneel down in front of Naruto, pulling him in a hug.

 _How I wish it was you who I fell in love with._

Naruto thought as he felt Sasuke's large and warm hands stroke the small of his back.

 _Sasuke…_

He draped both his arms around Sasuke as he whispered into the raven's ears.

"Sasuke…"

Sasuke shook his head. He removed his person from Naruto and looked at him straight in the eyes.

He knew how the situation will develop into something both of them aren't ready yet. As much as he wanted to claim Naruto as his own, he knew how the blonde's current situation drove him to do just anything to forcibly forget about Neji.

He didn't mind, of course, being used as a substitute if it will save Naruto from his despair – however; as Naruto had always been a good-natured person, he would definitely regret this someday and blame himself if it went wrong along the way.

He wanted to save Naruto from that. As much as he wanted to save the Naruto of the present, he wanted it more to protect Naruto's future where he could smile and laugh from the bottom of his heart with the person he truly loved.

Naruto was a bit shocked as Sasuke rejected his advances. Did he finally lose it? Did he break something he and Sasuke slowly and carefully built within these three months?

Sasuke saw the hurt in those cerulean orbs. He smiled.

"I don't want you to regret anything, Naruto. I don't want us to regret anything." He said, his hands cupping Naruto's cheeks, leaning forward so their foreheads touch.

"I promise I'd stay by your side, though. I'd stay until you are not hurt anymore, until you are over him. That way, should you decide that you are ready for us, I will ask you myself. As long as you'd allow me, I won't let you feel alone. I promise."

Naruto's chest overflowed with happiness and hope. Sasuke was wonderful. He was perfect. He was the angel, not Naruto.

Did he really deserve having someone like Sasuke in his life?

"Thank you…" he spoke these words in a whisper, eyes staring back at Sasuke – tears flowing.

"I thank you, too." He heard Sasuke say, feeling his pale arms snake their way around his body. He returned the hug.

They stayed inside Naruto's room, laying side-by-side on his bed, talking about each other, laughing, teasing each other, hands intertwined.

"Hey. What about work?" Naruto asked, rolling his body so he'd face Sasuke properly, his stomach against the soft mattress.

"Hn? That work was supposed to start tomorrow. I was just enthusiastic that I want to start right away when the president presented them to my face. He knew very well what motivates me during work." Sasuke spoke fondly, thinking about his brother Itachi.

"The president is your big brother, right? What kind of person is he?" Naruto asked without holding back. They already talked about anything and everything that night that he felt no reason to hold back asking personal and private questions.

Sasuke raised his left hand to reach for the blonde strand, playing with them absently as he thought of how to describe Itachi to Naruto. He smiled as he found the perfect word.

"He's a hero to me."

Naruto smiled as he saw a hint of the raven's childish part, loving how unguarded he was talking fondly about his big brother.

"When I was a kid, I would always run to him if I'm afraid. He would play with me no matter how busy he was. He would teach me everything he knew. I have always looked up to him. I always thought I'll never be me if not for him – I've always been proud of him. He would always be there to listen to me whether I'm happy or sad. He would give me advices and think a solution with me, as if it was his own problem."

Naruto's smile grew wider then as he started seeing dust of pink across Sasuke's cheeks.

"He'd always been the goal I've set my eyes on. I would reach higher because he's always there above me." Sasuke reached a hand in the air, as if seeing Itachi's back in front of him and trying to catch up to him.

"He's very cool."

Sasuke looked at Naruto, smiling.

"He knew about you, too."

Naruto blushed, then he laughed.

"Haha! That's nice. I'm getting envious. I wish I had a brother like him, too."

Sasuke blinked.

"You will if you marry me." He teased, making Naruto laugh again. Sasuke frowned.

"No. Forget I said that. I don't wanna share him. Nope." He said as he shook his head.

Naruto knew Sasuke was just teasing him again. He used both hands to tickle Sasuke's sides – to no avail.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke deadpanned.

"No way! You're not ticklish!" Naruto tried his best to find any weak spot Sasuke had – again, to no avail.

Sasuke reached a hand to touch Naruto's side, the blonde choked in his own breath surprised at the contact.

Sasuke smirked.

Naruto gulped.

"Found one weakness." Sasuke said, grabbing Naruto to push him onto the bed with his back against the mattress. He climbed over to straddle the blonde, beginning his furious attack as Naruto screamed and laughed out loud.

Sasuke watched as tears fell from Naruto's eyes while he laughed.

 _That's right. That's what suits you best. That smile._

He continued playing with Naruto until they both tired out. They lay again beside each other, hands intertwined and eyes on the ceiling. Sasuke squeezed on Naruto's hand before he got up.

"Then, see you tomorrow. I will take you to Ichiraku's." Sasuke said. He grabbed the jacket of his suit and wore it, feeling Naruto's warmth beside him.

The blonde latched himself on his side, embracing him briefly before letting go right away.

"Sasuke, Thank y-"

"Enough with that. I've only been doing things I wanted, I don't need you thanking me." Sasuke bent down to press his lips against Naruto's temples.

"I'll see you tomorrow, baby." He whispered.

Naruto watched as Sasuke made his way to door, waving his hand before exiting his apartment.

Naruto placed a hand over his chest, as if searching for an answer for his strong heartbeat.

He still felt strongly for Neji. However, he couldn't deny the strong attraction he felt for Sasuke.

There was a moment that he felt right to run into Sasuke's arms and drown himself in the raven's love – be it pretend relationship or not. He had forgotten about Neji the whole three months while meeting with Sasuke. It might take time, but maybe he could completely erase the feelings he had for Neji if he started falling in love with Sasuke.

He respect Sasuke's decision to take things slowly and proceed with their relationship with the correct development.

He breathed in deeply, and released a sigh as a small smile graced his pink lips.

 _Sasuke…_

* * *

Sasuke found himself smiling at his phone as he sipped on his coffee, sitting comfortably in one of the sofas in the living room on a Saturday morning. He just finished having breakfast and was then watching morning news. He invited Naruto on a drive to visit different famous spots in Kyoto the next day after learning that Naruto was a bit interested in Japan history. He just received a message from the blonde, saying how he wanted to get on the Torokko train with him.

 _ **Sasuke: That's a good idea. Send me that itinerary sheet you're making.**_

Itachi was watching Sasuke with great interest as the younger raven's facial expressions change as he read and tap on his phone. It looks like everything was going well between his younger brother and his love interest.

Itachi was aware of everything happening between Naruto and Sasuke as Sasuke always confide with him every single day. He wouldn't have to ask, for Sasuke would just automatically talk about it whenever he visits his younger brother's room. He would feel happy for his younger brother whenever he saw him smile while he talk about this Naruto.

He wanted to try and meet the fishcake to see for himself why Sasuke was so head-over-heels over a guy.

He stood up and claimed the space beside Sasuke, teasing the younger raven when he leaned closer to shove his face in front of Sasuke's mobile phone, blocking it from its owner.

"Iiitachi, what are you doing? Stop being a child!" Sasuke reprimanded his older brother.

Itachi looked at Sasuke and smirked.

"Who's being the child here? Look at your face, baby brother."

Sasuke blushed when he realized he had been grinning like an idiot.

"What is it? What is it? Is there something interesting in Sasuke's phone?"

Mikoto, their mother, suddenly appeared behind them – her eyes fixed at the screen of Sasuke's phone.

"M-Mom!" Sasuke tried to hide his phone but it was too late as they both heard their mother 'kyaa!'ing while running to fetch their father from the dining room, his phone in her hands.

"Sasuke got a lover! Look! Look, look!" they heard Mikoto make a fuss about what he sent to Naruto. They heard Mikoto squeal again, and then she emerged from the dining room with their father. It was obvious how he tried himself to hide his smile by looking stern but failing.

"Mom! Give that back!" Sasuke stood up, face uncharacteristically red as he stomped towards his mother and snatch his phone.

"Who's your _baby?_ Tell me, tell me!" Mikoto hooked her arms around Sasuke's, earning herself a deep sigh from her son.

How she long for these kind of development.

Sasuke reviewed the message he sent Naruto earlier, the one his parents read. He frowned while blushing again, shoulders slumping for being discovered by both his parents.

"Give him a break, Mother." Itachi said, taking the side of his baby brother. He would always side with Sasuke.

"Aww… What? I wanna know who it is. Sasuke, introduced them to us?" Mikoto looked up at Sasuke, smiling so sweetly.

Sasuke tried a mock glare.

It didn't work.

He sighed again.

Fugaku chuckled. It was the first time he saw Sasuke lose his composure over his mother's teasing that it made him wonder what kind of person his youngest son fell in love with.

"Invite them to dinner tonight. I will make a reservation at the new Spanish restaurant I discovered yesterday." Fugaku said, his phone in his hands; all ready to make the reservations.

"W-Wait! Dad." Sasuke said in panic, then he looked at Mikoto. "Mom."

He earned his parents attention, keeping quiet when he got serious all of a sudden.

 _Didn't they notice how Sasuke reverted to calling them 'Mom' and 'Dad' instead of 'Mother' and 'Father'?_

Itachi thought as he waited for Sasuke to make his big confession I front of their parents.

Sasuke breathed in deep, then he looked at them straight in the eyes.

"The person is a guy, and we aren't lovers; though I won't deny that I have romantic feelings for him." Sasuke continued looking at them in their eyes, trying to figure out how they'd react. He just announced that one of their sons is gay after all.

Sasuke couldn't believe his ears when he heard his mother scream.

"Kyaaa! He admitted it! He admitted he's in love! Darling! It's wonderful, right!? Right!?" Mikoto tugged on her husband.

Fugaku stared at Sasuke, then glanced at Itachi to find confirmation if he really heard right. When he realized that Sasuke's words wasn't a lie, he sighed, walked forward so Mikoto's hands on his arms would go off – then he put his right hand over Sasuke's head, ruffling his hair.

"I'm happy for you, son. I just hope you don't do anything you'd ever regret."

Sasuke looked up to find his father smiling gently at him.

"You don't mind that I'm.."

"Sshh… Love is a mysterious thing. I am happy to know that you get to experience unconditional love like that. You know, gender really had nothing to do with feelings, but society thinks otherwise. Same-sex relationships are frowned upon. I know you're not weak, but take care not to make your special person cry." Fugaku ruffled Sasuke's hair again before letting go, making a way for Mikoto.

Mikoto hugged Sasuke, still giggling.

"You definitely have to invite him tonight, dear. I want to meet this person you call your 'angel'."

Sasuke choked on his own breath at being reminded that he's been found sending sweet messages to his love interest.

Itachi laughed at the display.

They were both lucky to have such wonderful parents, he wished for nothing more.

Naruto was sitting on one of the chairs around his dining table, lazily munching on his half-finished morning bread with hot chocolate to accompany it with.

He just sent a 'Good Morning' message with Sasuke, along with his wish to ride the Torokko train in Kyoto. He received a response after a minute. He smiled, feeling happy at how Sasuke spoil him too much.

He received another message from Sasuke even though he haven't sent one yet. When he read the message, he felt his heart squeeze in pleasurable pain.

 _ **Sasuke: I can't wait for tomorrow, babe. I would take you anywhere you wanna go, my angel. Just tell me. 'Kay?**_

Another month had gone by since Naruto's last encounter with Neji.

He had been hanging out with Sasuke almost every day, maintaining their close friendship and flirting with each other as part of their game.

This was also just a part of that game, though recently, Naruto finds himself wishing they were all real.

Sasuke has always been sweet and gentle towards him, what was not to like about him?

Four months have already passed since his break up with Neji, and even though he would sometimes drown in thoughts of the brunette, just thinking about Sasuke made him feel better.

He was sure he had already fallen for the raven while still thinking about Neji.

Over the past month, he was able to confess to Iruka how he and Neji had been. The dolphin was furious at the beginning, threatening to beat Neji into a pulp (he would probably succeed because Neji won't dare lay a hand on him), but when Naruto convinced Iruka that there will be nothing to come of it, Iruka gave up.

Naruto confessed how he met a wonderful friend who keeps thoughts about Neji at bay, making Iruka happy as he expressed how this person's existence grew bigger inside Naruto the more they met.

That was when Iruka told Naruto that beginning another love was the best cure to heal past heart aches.

" _However, you have to make sure that what you feel for him is real – not just as Neji-kun's replacement. If you think that you could possibly really love him, then I don't see any reason you should hold back. He's a wonderful person, and I could see how much he cherished you and your friendship."_ Iruka once told Naruto after introducing Sasuke to him.

Sasuke had only been his usual snobby self with Iruka, but Naruto's foster father noticed how Sasuke's behavior changes whenever he talk to Naruto. Iruka could see how the lights in Sasuke's eyes change whenever he look at the blonde. Even the small quirk of his lips he thought he was hiding didn't escape Iruka's observant eyes.

The guy had feelings for his son, no doubt about it.

Naruto blushed as he recall how Iruka insisted that Sasuke was looking at him in _that way_ , and their flirting games were probably not just games for Sasuke.

In the first place, it was Naruto who labeled all those flirting as part of their games. It was, wasn't it? Well, he didn't know anymore.

He suddenly received a call from Sasuke amidst his thoughts about the said raven. He almost dropped his phone, and then he got pissed all of a sudden – blaming Sasuke for it.

"Damn you, bastard! I was surprised I almost dropped my phone! Don't just suddenly call when I'm not on-guard!"

The burst out made Sasuke blink several times at his mobile phone, wondering what he did wrong. He shrugged as he put the phone back against his right ear.

"Sorry."

Naruto blinked when he heard Sasuke apologize with several question marks in the tone he used. He giggled as he thought how Sasuke apologized anyway even though he knew he didn't do anything wrong. That was funny.

He cleared his throat before answering.

"No, it wasn't you. I was thinking about you and was surprised when you suddenly called, so –"

Naruto couldn't possibly put any brakes on his beautiful mouth. He blushed beet red as he realized he just confessed how he was thinking about his raven.

 _My -!?_

"Geez, Sasuke! What are you making me say, you idiot! Bastard!" he blamed Sasuke again for his inner battle.

Sasuke, on the other hand, just blinked a few times again – then he laughed out loud, making his family smile when they heard him.

" _ **Don't laugh!"**_ he heard the blonde shout at him at the other end of the line, making him laugh again.

Naruto didn't know when he started laughing, too. When Sasuke stopped laughing, though, he finally realized that Sasuke called for something else, not to laugh at him.

"What's up?" he finally asked, looking at the wall clock on his kitchen wall. It read nine in the morning.

" _ **Yeah. Well... My family will be having a dinner at a Spanish restaurant. That is…"**_

Sasuke seemed as though he finds it hard to say what he wanted to say, but Naruto waited patiently. He expected the worst – that their trip tomorrow might get cancelled.

But who would cancel a next day trip over family dinner the day before? Unless that Spanish restaurant was in Spain.

He didn't have to wait for long as Sasuke continued talking.

" _ **My family wanted to invite you."**_

Naruto's shoulders tensed.

Sasuke's family invited him to a family dinner?

They knew about him?

" _ **I can turn them down if you-"**_

"I'll go! W-When? What time? Where?!" Naruto was in panic, his mind suddenly filled with different thoughts.

What to wear. Would he have to visit the salon to tame his messy blonde hair?

" _ **Naruto, calm down."**_

Would he have to buy new shiny black shoes? White handkerchief? New froggy coin purse?

" _ **It's tonight at seven. I'll fetch you from your apartment. Anyway, please calm down, what froggy coin purse are you saying?"**_

"But, it's your family! I can't act foolish in front of them! Oh no, I have to buy a new pair of socks, too!"

" _ **You have hundreds of them. Calm down. I'll go there now."**_

"H-Huh? Ah, Y-yeah. Yeah..."

 _Is he listening?_

"I'll go now, don't move there." Sasuke said, turning the phone off.

It took him almost forty five minutes to get to Naruto's apartment using shortcuts and speeding up. He couldn't have the blonde freaking out on some dinner with his family now, could he?

When he arrived, he found that the door was already unlocked; it meant that Naruto didn't even have the courage to greet him like he usually would whenever he came over.

"Oi, Usuratonkachi! Where are you?" Sasuke found different names to call Naruto and often used it whenever he feel like it depend on what situation.

Today was one of those situations.

"Naruto, dobe!" Sasuke shouted again while he remove his shoes, stomping his way into Naruto's bedroom.

What he found there was Naruto drowning over the pile of clothes he pulled off his closets and drawers.

"The hell are you doing?"

Naruto looked up at him, a sweatshirt looking cozy over his head.

"I dunno what to wear! Help me, Sasuke!"

Face–palming, Sasuke sighed heavily, leaning down to get some of the scattered clothes out of his way. He looked through the clothes, finding everything quite nice.

Anything Naruto wore would look great on him. Well, aside from the baggy ones. People don't wear them in a hotel restaurant.

"Anything would be fine, though?" he said as-a-matter-of-factly. He heard the blonde whine like a child.

"No way! You choose then! And if your parents ask me why I wore inappropriate clothes, I'll blame you!" Naruto said, closing his arms and pouting.

Gods, Naruto was being a child again. Not that Sasuke hate it, though. It shows how comfortable the blonde was around him.

"Fine. Geez. Quit pouting and put these back to your closet. Why are your socks lined up like this? Are you a girl?" Sasuke chuckled, hearing the blonde whine again.

* * *

Itachi found himself playing with the table napkin in front of him, keeping himself entertained while his parents patiently wait for Sasuke and Naruto to arrive.

The restaurant his father chose was one of the best one he had ever encountered. He noted to himself to visit more often with his parents, or with Sasuke, or with Sasuke and his love interest.

The restaurant was located at the tenth floor of some high class hotel. The entrance had two automatic sliding doors, outer and inner. Inside the space between the main door and the door to the restaurant, there were artificial vine leaves on the wall left and right, creating that nature-loving and enchanted atmosphere. When they were brought to their reserved table, Itachi almost blew a whistle at the view outside the glass windows. The whole town was visible and it looked sparkly with all the town lights. The sky was clear, and though it wasn't everything, he could see the stars shining brightly as if saying they won't lose to the town lights.

When Itachi caught himself drowning in his own thoughts, he looked straight to see both of his parents looking at the night sky, smile plastered on their faces. He smiled one of his own, feeling relaxed at seeing how his parents enjoy the silence.

They all heard silent footsteps, recognizing the one that belonged to their beloved youngest family member.

"This way, please. Mr. Uchiha, Mr. Uzumaki." The waiter waited for the two to step inside the private chamber of the restaurant before he excused himself as Sasuke dismissed him with a wave of a hand.

Sasuke was the first one to step inside, smiling when he saw how perfect the place was.

"My, Sasuke, dear. You look lovely." Mikoto clasped the palm of her hands together to appreciate the semi-casual outfit Sasuke wore that night. It was a simple family dinner, so there was no need to wear anything formal.

He chose a simple white V-neck long sleeved shirt with the sleeves folded half-way through his elbows under a gray-colored tailored vest. Below, he wore gray slacks and brown leathered shoes.

Fugaku looked behind his youngest child, seeing someone try their best to hide behind Sasuke's broad back. He felt himself smile at the timid behavior of this person.

 _His head could just barely reach Sasuke's chin._

"Please have a seat." He directed these words to Sasuke's companion.

Naruto tensed up and the way his body jumped a little didn't get past the three raven–haired people around the table.

Sasuke stepped aside, Naruto stepping side with him so he remained hidden behind the raven.

Sasuke chuckled.

The sound felt good to ears; that was what Itachi thought staring at Sasuke. He had never seen Sasuke's eyes look gentle the way they were as he look down at the blonde beside him.

"Naruto, you know that's rude." Sasuke said in a low voice enough for everyone in the room to hear.

"Ah, Uhh, right. Sorry." Naruto said timidly, stepping aside and letting himself be visible among the other three raven-haired people in the room. Out of his nervous state, he smiled – rather, he grinned. Greeting them in his own unique way.

"Yo…"

That single syllable followed by a nervous laugh made Sasuke slap his own mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud – making three sets of dark-colored eyes widen in shock.

"Seriously?" Sasuke said, his shoulders shook while he contained his laugh. He earned himself a nudge on his left rib with the blonde's elbow, still laughing as he rubbed the slightly painful area.

"Stop laughing, you bastard." Sasuke was still smirking. He didn't mind his family hearing Naruto throw insults to him. Rather, he wanted to see how they'd react the moment he present someone who was not afraid of him and his family.

"Hi Mom, Dad, Itachi; this is Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." Sasuke turned to face his family, his left hand gently guiding Naruto into one of the available seats.

Naruto was still pouting, but then he looked properly at the head of the family, Fugaku. Finding his confidence back, he walked around the table to get closer to Fugaku and bowed his head ever so politely; smiling brightly as he greeted the man.

"Good evening, sir. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Fugaku stood up, feeling a bit overwhelmed meeting such an interesting person. It was the first time he ever felt comfortable upon meeting someone the first time that he felt his usual stern features soften, smiling back at the young man. He put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and egged him to stop bowing his head already.

"Good evening, Uzumaki Naruto-kun. The pleasure's all mine."

Naruto relaxed.

 _Such a nice person._

They shook hands with smiles plastered on their faces. He turned towards the woman beside Fugaku who was already standing, arms open for what he assumed to be a gesture for a hug.

Women really likes being greeted in a special way.

Naruto complied, bending down, felt warm hands go around his back, gently rubbing his back. He breathed in her scent and relaxed altogether. He somehow felt like crying at being held by a mother, for he hadn't met his own, _ever_.

"You look wonderful, Naruto-kun." Mikoto said as she pulled away and look at the blonde from head to toe.

Naruto wondered if the raven-haired woman appreciated his simple half-sleeved white polo short under elbow-length semi-casual black and grey double color blazer with the combination of silk and velvet. Below, he only wore simple jeans and his usual pocket chain.

Mikoto observed the blonde as he look at his own outfit, making a slightly confused expression. It seemed that Itachi noticed the blonde's confusion, standing up and approaching the younger man, putting a hand on his right shoulder.

"She meant your looks, not your outfit." Itachi reassured the blonde that his mother wasn't taking note of what he wore, a smile gracing his lips.

Naruto allowed himself to turn and look up at Itachi properly, finding himself smiling at the long-haired raven.

"It's the perfect Nii-chan."

"Oi!" Sasuke complained as Naruto just revealed how he described Itachi.

Fugaku laughed as Mikoto got a bit confused why Sasuke needed to get offended. Itachi smirked.

"We'll get along well." He said, sharing a smile with Naruto.

The dinner went long as they talked over their course meal, Naruto being the center of entertainment. Itachi watched his family converse with the blonde so openly, laughing at all the funny and exaggerated things he said and did. He would also find himself chuckling whenever the conversation went from Sasuke teasing Naruto to his parents teasing Sasuke _together_ with Naruto.

He never knew his parents enjoyed teasing their youngest star once they found his weakness; and those weakness mostly involved Naruto and his feelings for the said blonde.

Their dinner ended at ten in the evening. Mikoto refused to let Naruto go and insisted on inviting him over to their house and just go straight to their next day trip from the Uchiha household.

Sasuke refused for Naruto. He wouldn't have enough alone time with the blonde if his family continued monopolizing him.

With this, Naruto bid farewell to Sasuke's family with their promise to visit their house next time.

"Monday! Monday night, alright, sweetie?" Mikoto called out as Naruto released a breathy laugh in response. Fugaku didn't say anything as he agreed to his wife's idea of having Naruto visit them often, and soon. Itachi just smiled, his arms lay across his chest – eyes on Sasuke.

Mikoto was still waving her hands as her husband ushered him inside their car after the hotel staff brought it in front of the hotel entrance.

"Mikoto-san is so sweet. Guess all mothers are like that?" Naruto said, waving back until the car started moving.

Sasuke was staring at Naruto as he saw the longing in those cerulean orbs.

Naruto longed for a mother's love.

Feeling happy for having the blonde back to being _his_ blonde alone, he reached for the tan hand and led Naruto to the passenger's seat, closing the car's door before heading to the driver's seat himself.

They both stared in front of them, eyes not focusing on anything in particular. Their hands were intertwined with one another like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Naruto was sure he felt deeply for Sasuke already that he would be lonely if he ever lose this moment with the man beside him.

Sasuke did everything that would only really make him happy; things that no one ever did for him – not even Neji.

Sure, he was happy with Neji, and though they often fought mostly because of the brunette's extreme possessiveness and jealousy, he felt loved.

He and Sasuke have had their share of small fights. However, most of them were stubbornness on Naruto's part. Sasuke was protective of him for they have already encountered several guys who made uncalled for moves on Naruto.

Those fights were his proof of how much he was being treasured. Those fights were his only clue of how much the raven thought of him in a special way.

He was ready for his big step, a big step that would bring a great change to his and Sasuke's relationship. He wanted to do as Iruka said, taking this chance to finally have this chance with Sasuke.

No, he wouldn't want to use Sasuke to forget his feelings for Neji. He wanted to use the chance Neji gave him to realize that true love was what he found in Sasuke.

 _The closer I get to touching you_

 _The closer I get to loving you_

 _Give it time, just a little more time_

 _We'll be together…_

Sasuke felt himself smile the moment he heard Naruto's voice sing one song he sang for the blonde before when they went to karaoke. His smile never faltered as he glanced to his left where Naruto sat, eyes closed and brows furrowed as he thought back on the lyrics of the song line he was singing.

 _Give a little smile, that special smile_

 _A twinkle inn your eyes in a little while_

 _Give it time, just a little more time, so we'll be together_

 _You and I…_

Sasuke felt Naruto's hand squeeze his own as he sang the last two lines, their eyes locked in a loving gaze.

Sasuke knew what Naruto wanted to convey choosing this song.

He smiled.

He also felt that it was the time and they were both ready for this.

However, just as he promised to Naruto and also to himself, he wanted to give Naruto the greatest confession he deserved.

For he was the most wonderful being he ever met.

As if the message was sent through their linked fingers, Naruto nodded.

Sasuke started planning everything inside his head as they make their way back to Naruto's apartment.

* * *

Author's Note:

The song I quoted in this chapter was from 「Closer You and I」 by Gino Padilla, though I think everyone already knew? Ehehe!

I finished this chapter inside the airplane after watching an anime movie entitled Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana wo Kazarou with the English title "Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms".

The English title is not the literal translation of the Japanese title, but, oh well. Lol.  
For those who wonder what the actual translation was, it must go along the lines of (as far as I know)  
"Let Us Hang the Flower of Promises on a Morning of Goodbyes".

Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up for, well, I dunno 'coz I'd be on business trips until the nineteenth, so.. yeah.  
Anyone excited? Lemme see your hands!

Please leave some dusts and clatters on the review section before you leave this chapter! Ne? *wink*


	7. Chapter 7

Summary: Naruto found out that his boyfriend of eight years got a girl pregnant. Not one to deprive a kid of their own father, he chose to break things off; ignoring his own broken heart. Then a gentleman came and took his mind off the hurtful things by... well, singing him sweet songs.

* * *

Warning: AU / Yaoi (boyxboy) / SasuNaru (A bit ooc Sasuke)  
I'm just a rookie so I don't have any idea what a songfic is or how it is written. If anyone could tell, it is highly appreciated. I included some song lyrics in this fic that can probably give some of you goose bumps because, really, even I think that it's a bit too corny. But I need this for the plot, so spare me! *wink*

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

CHAPTER 7

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto's relationship has gone up to yet another level. There was this strange connection between them, like they knew exactly what the other think. One look, one word; and it was like everything they think and feel were out in the open for both of them.

However, as much as they both feel comfortable about expressing everything they think and feel, knowing too much about each other led them to their first ever huge misunderstanding.

Their trip to Kyoto have gone perfect that when they went back home, they found it hard to let go of each other's hand, so Sasuke was forced to stay the night.

The trip was tiring so they went straight to bed after taking turns to shower. Sasuke wore Naruto's baggy clothes for the blonde's normal clothes felt tight for him. He swore he got a bruise on his left arm when Naruto pinched him there for laughing hard.

They shared Naruto's bed; laid side by side as they talk about almost everything from their childhood memories to first crushes and how Sasuke's desktop computer seem to be acting up lately.

They fell asleep quite late and it made Sasuke arrive late to his office the next day. Luckily, he had no important work or meeting on a Monday morning so he took it easy – sending Naruto a message as soon as he reached his office.

 _ **Sasuke: Arrived at the office, babe. There was another stack of one week worth of work from Itachi again – guess I have to finish these until Wednesday if I want to spend my weekend with my angel, so I apologize early if I can't reply right away.**_

 _ **Oh, and Mom said she will bake an apple pie for tonight and wanted to invite you over for dinner at our house. You don't have to force yourself, but if you have the time, please do come. I will fetch you from your office at six.**_

 _ **P.S. Miss you already.**_

Naruto blushed as he read the message Sasuke sent.

He was still in his bed, his stomach against the mattress hugging the pillow Sasuke used the night before. It was full of Sasuke's scent and it makes him feel calm and secured as he fill his lungs with the scent.

His heart jumped again when he reread the message.

 _I also miss you._

The dinner with Sasuke's family was perfect.

It became more memorable when Mikoto showed him picture albums of Sasuke and Itachi from their childhood up to the present (though most of the recent ones are stolen pictures).

Naruto learned how warm Sasuke's family was and how the sibling's closeness to their parents was mostly because of Mikoto and Fugaku's strict but gentle way of raising them.

He thought of Iruka and caught himself smiling because he felt the same kind of gentleness from the man who saved him from solitude – he felt no envy or jealousy anymore because even though he hadn't met his own parents, Iruka's presence made up for it just perfectly.

There was also Kakashi who, to his and Sasuke's surprise, were both friends with Iruka and Sasuke's parents; him being the manager of one department in the Uchiha's main office. Kakashi had been Naruto's second father who spoiled him too much; buying him gifts and his favorite cup ramen – though it was later when he found out that the guy was courting his Iruka and were now in a relationship with each other and living together in his apartment.

The fight they had was something Naruto wouldn't forget – or wouldn't _want_ to forget his entire life.

A week after their third family dinner at the Uchiha's, Naruto went out drinking with his office mates. He promised to meet with Sasuke the same night to spend what little time they have before the raven's one week-long business trip to United States the very next day.

He told Sasuke he would be out of the store by nine in the evening, but then he got so drunk he stumbled his way out of the store at eleven – and to his surprise, Sasuke had been waiting right outside the store, leaning comfortably on his car.

The raven noticed his dishevelled appearance, removing his person off the car and jugging his way in time to catch the blonde as he tripped over nothing.

"Shu'rf th't, how'dyu g'here?" Naruto slurred the words leaving Sasuke thinking he must be asking whether why he knew where the blonde was.

"I searched the whole area. Anyway, let me get you inside the car." Sasuke knew the blonde didn't get half of what he was saying for he was so out of it. He just sighed while he easily lifted the blonde with his left arm at the small of his back and the other one at the back of his knees.

Naruto's hands automatically went around Sasuke's shoulder, leaning close to breathe it the raven's scent.

He came to love this scent the most.

"S'ske…" he said, making Sasuke look down at him with gentle gaze. Sasuke purposely slowed down as he wait for what Naruto would say next.

After a few seconds, the blonde spoke.

"Love you…"

Sasuke felt his heart swell at the words and he smiled so dearly, aching to lean down and kiss the blonde – but he didn't.

All the breaks he had on his body and on his heart; Naruto's word made them disappear. However, his drive to help Naruto completely move forward and over his ex was as strong as his romantic feelings towards the blonde. No matter how much ready they both were for this new relationship, if running into the blonde's ex easily rouse old feelings from Naruto – then it will be meaningless.

He was planning on reprimanding Naruto about his drinking habits but then he gave up midway after hearing the blonde say those words, he forgave him right away.

"You're just afraid to get dumped, aren't you, Little Brother?" Itachi casually said, sipping on his cup of coffee one evening.

He was helping Sasuke pack some necessary things for the young raven's work travel. He was still awake when Sasuke went home at two in the morning, sighing because his baby brother had only just four hours before his flight to the U.S.

He started bombarding Sasuke questions about Naruto's schedule for the whole week, tauntingly asking the 'boyfriend' for permission to spend some time with the cute blonde.

Along their conversation, Sasuke started voicing his insecurities about finally asking Naruto out officially. Itachi, as well as their parents, was aware about Sasuke and Naruto's current arrangement. If Sasuke decided to man-up and finally ask Naruto to be his boyfriend, it meant he was ready to take the risks of having his heart at the blonde's mercy.

They knew that the two met under not too normal circumstance, well, of course they haven't disclosed who Naruto's 'ex' was.

Sasuke spilled his doubts about going out with Naruto, thinking that he'd bind the blonde to him when in fact the blonde might really still be in love with his past lover.

"If you're serious about him, you could just take all the risk. And if you ever felt that he really needed to be set free from you, just do so." Itachi knew how painful it will be for Sasuke. However;

"You don't know what will happen in the future. You might've been hurting him now for not making any move. As much as I hate the thought of my baby brother being heart-broken, you being indecisive is much worse – and it might hurt you both."

Sasuke watched as his almost-too-perfect of an older brother closed the book he was reading before standing up and heading for the door. Without looking his way, he heard Itachi say;

"I will always be here for you, Sasuke. Don't forget that."

Watching the door to his room close silently, Sasuke smiled – his cheeks tinted in pink colors.

Itachi was the best brother, no doubt about it.

With feelings as light as feather, Sasuke set his alarm to ring at six in the morning then he laid on his bed with a slight bounce – his arms around one of the white over-sized pillows. He immediately fell asleep, a tug on his lips plastered across his face.

He dreamt of his perfect confession plan for Naruto.

The week passed by miraculously faster than Naruto expected as Sasuke's brother, Itachi, and his parents kept him busy every night with dinners and movies. It seemed that they were waiting for Sasuke to fly somewhere so they could monopolize the blonde angel.

Saturday was Naruto's off day from work, and he found himself at the airport that afternoon as he recalled Sasuke would arrive around five. He wore his not-too-orange-colored orange jacket he loved so Sasuke wouldn't notice him right away just to surprise the raven. The plane from the U.S. arrived several minutes ago, so Naruto went near the exit and hid among the sea of people.

His eyes almost crossed as he scanned among the people who were walking through the crowd. His eyes caught on the familiar duck-butt shape of Sasuke's hair and he snickered as he stepped forward to initialize his 'surprise' greeting when suddenly a pair of thin and pale arms flung over Sasuke's shoulders in a tight hug – long blonde hair swayed elegantly behind the woman as she exclaimed a 'Welcome Home Sasuke Dear!' that everyone in the area could hear.

Naruto's eyes were wide, his heart was beating loudly against his chest – his throat dry and his hands and knees felt weak as he watched the woman jump up and down while still hugging the Uchiha, her big chest rubbing against Sasuke's firm and flat ones.

His eyes were hot and it stung.

Was Sasuke playing him all along?

He shook his head, feeling worst when that sight made him easily doubt Sasuke's sincerity.

He took a step back and made a hundred eighty, running away when he saw Sasuke's hand lift up as if to hug the bimbo back.

He didn't want to see it. He didn't know what he'd do or what he'd feel – if he could feel any worse than what he felt right then.

Sasuke's face was full of irritation as soon as he recognized who the hell interrupted his thoughts about going straight to Naruto's place. It was a Saturday afternoon and he was sure Naruto was in his apartment either watching movies or playing games. He brought back a present he was sure the blonde would love.

"Ino, let go." He lifted his hand, dislodging the thin but strong arms around his shoulder a bit roughly to express his irritation. "Hey, Sai. Get your woman out of my face. Right. Now."

"Of course, Sasuke-sama." Sai, his relative who almost shared the same face as him, smiled his usual fake ones as he opened his arms as a gesture to receive the same warm welcome from his girlfriend.

Sasuke lifted his left hand to take note of the time. Five thirty. It will take him another hour before he arrive to Naruto's apartment. He didn't say much as he left his cousin and Ino who already created their own little world, marching forward to the parking area.

An hour passed before he found himself pressing the doorbell to Naruto's apartment – but he tilted his head in confusion because the blonde wasn't responding.

Was he out? Maybe the convenience store?

He fished out his smart phone from his pocket and speed-dialled Naruto's number but the blonde was out of reach.

He went back to the parking area as he sent a text message informing the blonde that he came back to Japan and was in the area.

Minutes passed as he waited inside his car; no reply from the blonde.

"Was he asleep?"

The blonde never turn his phone off even if he actually was sleeping.

A strange surge of panic slowly crept up within the raven as he stared at the screen of his mobile phone. Naruto's reply didn't take this long before. Looking at his wrist watch, he realized he had been waiting for less than thirty minutes.

He decided to make another trip upstairs to ring the doorbell on Naruto's door – hoping the sound might wake the blonde up if he really was sleeping.

As he got off the elevator, he saw Naruto just in time, his blonde head poking out of the small gap of the opened door.

"Naruto?" he called out uncharacteristically quietly, like a whisper, but it clearly didn't escape the tanned ears.

Sasuke saw the slight movement of Naruto's shoulders when he flinched at hearing Sasuke's voice.

"Is something wrong?"

' _Something wrong' he say?_

"Nothing." Naruto averted his eyes when they met charcoal black. Was Sasuke planning to hide the fact that he arranged to meet some lover at the airport?

Naruto hated his train of thoughts; he was becoming like Neji – quickly assuming things and getting suspicious.

"That didn't sound like 'nothing' to me." Sasuke's voice were rough and laced with fatigue. It didn't stop Naruto's mouth from running off, though.

"Well, for me, it _sounded_ like you're planning to pretend like it was nothing after all, so I will do the same."

"Wait a second, dobe. What are you getting at? And don't close the fucking door in my face." Sasuke's hand was then keeping the door opened while Naruto did his best to close them. Sasuke won, though, given he was only using one hand to open the door wide and another to pry Naruto's tanned ones away from the door knob.

He let himself inside, locking the door behind him as to not cause trouble to Naruto's neighbours if they ever resort to screaming at each other.

Panting slightly as the fatigue had completely taken over his system, Sasuke brought a hand over his face covering his eyes and forehead. His other hand was resting against the left wall, waiting for his breath to catch up.

Was this how they would start yet another fight?

Sasuke couldn't recall anything he'd done that would cause Naruto to act this way and he would kill to know right then and there should there really be _something_ that he wasn't aware of.

Especially when the usual bright blue eyes were clouded in hurt and… _jealousy?_

The blonde stayed silent, eyes glued on the floor. Sasuke stared at Naruto through his fingers, weighing his choices between leaving so they'd both have the time to calm themselves down or clearing up any misunderstanding right away so he'd receive his 'welcome home' greetings from his blonde angel.

However, as his eyes scanned the area around the front door, he noticed Naruto's sneakers untidily lying across the shoe rack. Naruto's house key on the floor and the not-so-orange kind of orange jacket lying beside it.

As smart as he was, Sasuke connected the dots, and that was when he realized what's wrong.

"Could you have possibly tried to fetch me from the airport and saw me with Ino?"

As expected of Sasuke.

Naruto didn't even have to suffer a lot to finally give in and explain what's wrong because Sasuke was too smart to figure out every possible cause of every problem he brought.

"Oh… So it's Ino, huh? And why are you wasting your time here when you had that oh-so-warm welcome hug from your girlfrie-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, dobe."

Naruto's eyes was on Sasuke's dark orbs in a split-second as he heard the disgusted tone the raven used.

Silence filled the air for mere seconds as Sasuke released a heavy sigh.

"She's not a …" Sasuke had to cringe before he say the word. " _girlfriend..._ she's my cousin's woman. That cousin was with me the whole trip. Hey, can't I just come in first and have some of your tea, 'coz I'm fucking tired and needed something to un-dry my throat."

Naruto gritted his teeth, feeling frustrated at having Sasuke shrug at his inner battle like it was nothing.

"Fine. You go in there and have fun alone. I'm out of here."

One second, Sasuke was removing his shoes. The next one, all he saw was the front door swinging back and closing on its own. No blonde.

He stared wide-eyed, not sure what happened, when he noticed all of Naruto's things were still lying on the floor – including his shoes.

" _Fuck._ "

He almost tripped against his own feet when he made back for Naruto's keys and his shoes.

Naruto ran along the streets barefooted, not caring about the glances thrown his way. He felt conflicted, dejected. He never knew he could be jealous and unreasonable when it comes to someone he liked. He wasn't even like this with Neji. And he wasn't even going out with Sasuke.

Why did he feel betrayed?

He felt his jaw tightened again when his mind went back to the scene he saw at the airport.

"Shit!"

He felt angry. No one should touch Sasuke as affectionately like that.

The moment he thought of it made his heart beat loudly against his chest. He couldn't stop it, he was already in too deep.

He was sure he felt strongly for Sasuke and he felt scared because he started doubting that the raven might have been fooling him. Or maybe not, but didn't feel the same for him. Maybe Sasuke just purely wanted to have someone to flirt with and Naruto was the best partner for it. He was getting all the negative thoughts about the raven. He knew it wasn't healthy, considering they just met a couple of months ago. He felt disgusted to himself.

Was it the same feeling Neji had whenever he get too jealous of everything that came near Naruto? So then, he was just the same as Neji. He and Sasuke wasn't even going out yet.

He suddenly felt pain on his right foot, and when he looked down, he just realized that he bolted out of his apartment without shoes. Blood was dripping as he looked to learn that he stepped on a sharp edged stone.

He breathed in deeply, feeling a lump in his throat and the familiar heat in his eyes.

"Ugghh…" He was at the vicinity of the town park near his apartment and no other people are visible even though the orange light coming from the setting sun illuminated the whole town. He felt alone.

He sniffed, feeling his tears flow. He liked to think that the tears were because of the wound he got, but knew that they were from a much deeper emotion.

Jealousy was an ugly word.

And he felt ugly getting jealous over some girl who clung to the guy who wasn't even his boyfriend. He shouldn't show Sasuke such an ugly side of his personality that even he himself didn't know existed.

While he drown himself in self-hatred, the panicked voice of Sasuke surrounded the area, and when he looked up, the raven was running towards him – eyes wide in shock as it noticed the trails of blood leading to where Naruto sat in a bench just right outside the town park.

"Wh-What happened!? Where do you hurt!? What's all these blood!?"

Naruto watched as Sasuke made a big fuss over the still bleeding wound under his right foot, fishing out a white handkerchief, putting it around the foot hoping it would temporarily stop the bleeding.

The blonde watched Sasuke's tired and paler than pale face frown in frustration and worry, breathing short breaths, almost huffing, as he inspect the other foot.

Naruto avoided Sasuke's eyes when he noticed the raven look up at him – the same moment another drop of tears fell onto the ground.

They stayed quiet for a while with Naruto refusing to look at Sasuke.

He knew that he acted childish and unreasonable, and it wasn't the time to throw a tantrum when Sasuke was obviously frustrated. He even wounded himself for running off with bare feet.

Maybe Sasuke had already been disillusioned.

Naruto felt his body flinch at the thought, and another stream of tears flowed out.

He heard Sasuke sigh.

"Please stop crying already. I'm sorry, okay?"

Sasuke didn't even have any reason to apologize, but he did anyway. This made Naruto feel bad and he hated himself more and more.

More tears flowed out.

"Naruto…" Sasuke's voice was full of desperation. How could it be that Naruto felt heartbroken even though the person clearly cares for him?

"Baby…"

He felt big and warm hands cup both his cheeks, then gently, Sasuke pried his head to make him look at his face and straight into his eyes.

Different emotions filled both of their chests. They both couldn't name it, but they could see in each other's eyes what words couldn't convey. And as if something else controlled his body, Naruto leaned forward, planting a chaste but very innocent kiss against Sasuke's lips.

The kiss didn't last long. Just mere three seconds. Both their eyes were closed even after the deed. Hot tears started flowing again, and Naruto started sobbing.

He couldn't take it anymore. He was sure of it, was ready for it, and had been waiting for it. He cried openly, sniffles and sobs could be heard, and then when he was sure he could handle voicing out his dilemma, he looked up finding Sasuke eyes looking straight at him with endearment that he was sure he never saw before.

He clenched his teeth, dislodged all hesitation, and then he opened his mouth to speak but even before he did, Sasuke's lips was on his, moving ever-so-gently. He closed his eyes, felt his heart throb loudly, and then he moved his own lips to return the sweet kiss. He brought his hands up to clutch against the cloth on Sasuke's chest, he breathed in and out of his nose, and he shut his eyes tighter when he felt Sasuke's tongue gently prying his lips open, asking for permission.

He slowly opened his mouth, and then he experienced the hottest and sweetest kiss he ever experienced his whole life.

Sasuke's tongue brought amazing sensations and Naruto felt the inside of his mouth tingle in excitement – as if the wet cavern became the most sensitive part of his body.

"H-Hasshu…keh-,"

Sasuke stopped kissing the blonde with a loud smack and when he looked at Naruto's face, he felt his nether regions twitch in anticipation as he watch Naruto breath hard, face flushed, and lips full – still wet of their mixed saliva.

When he was sure the blonde had recovered from that momentary dazed state, he turned his back and pulled Naruto to force him to ride his back as he intended to piggy-back the blonde all the way back to his apartment.

No words were exchanged between them, but he could feel Naruto's arms slowly circling around his shoulder until they perfectly fit.

As if they both found their place in each other.

He was about to push the button on the elevator when he noticed the doors open, revealing an old couple. He bowed his head when he noticed them smiling sweetly at him and Naruto. He pressed the button to Naruto's floor and the doors closed.

While waiting for the elevator to bring them to Naruto's floor, he felt Naruto tighten his hold. He turned his head to nuzzle his nose against the blonde locks when Naruto rested his head on Sasuke's right shoulder. He kissed Naruto's temple and heard the blonde's breath hitch before tightening up his hold again.

When they arrived in front of Naruto's door, he gently bended his knees so Naruto would get off with his good foot. He used Naruto's keys to open the door before he again proceeded to guide Naruto inside and closed it securely.

They were both silent the whole time as they make their way towards the sofa with Sasuke helping Naruto sit comfortably.

Dark orbs met blue, and Sasuke was sure Naruto saw the worry in his eyes because his expression changed from neutral to guilt.

Sasuke was about to say something when Naruto spoke first.

"I'm sorry… for…" he waited for Naruto to finish what he was trying to say.

"…for, assuming things. I acted like a pretty possessive b-boyfrie-… I mean, you're not even my…"

Sasuke didn't let him finish as he put his right forefinger against Naruto's soft and plump lips.

"We could be. We _would_ be, Naruto. Sorry it took so long for me to say something, I didn't want you to doubt my sincerity."

Sasuke breathed in. All his plans for a grand confession vanished into thin air. Naruto wouldn't need those, he needed reassurance. He needed words, actions, warmth.

"I've always liked you." He finally confessed. He was sure his feelings were obvious, but he needed to put them into words, and he just did. Now he needed to make sure that he wasn't wrong in choosing this instance to cross the line between friendship and lovers. He needed to make sure Naruto was alright with the changes.

All his anxieties cleared up when he saw Naruto's smile, face red, eyes in verge of tears.

Naruto nodded, uttering a silent 'Uhn', while his hands are clenched tightly over his lap.

Sasuke leaned forward, grabbing the tanned hands to ease the tightness before the blonde hurt himself. He lifted both of their hands and kissed Naruto's before leaning closer again to plant a kiss on Naruto's left temple.

Their eyes met again. He smiled, then he got one in return.

"I like you, too. Sasuke."

Relief washed over Sasuke's system and he couldn't control himself. He encircled his arms around Naruto and pulled him closer to his chest, his head finding its place over Naruto's shoulder and he breathed in Naruto's scent.

"I missed you. Damn, I don't think I'd be able to go to any business trip again knowing I'd miss you every single moment."

Naruto laughed a bit but knew he felt the same as Sasuke. How he missed the raven and hoped that he wouldn't go far away again.

Now that they were officially going out, he promised himself that he would take care of Sasuke and their relationship. He learned in the earlier argument, which was mostly one-sided, that stubbornness and miscommunication would be their main problem, again, on his side.

Sasuke was perfect after all.

He cringed when he felt his right foot throb in pain again. When he and Sasuke looked down to inspect the wound, Sasuke panicked when it looked swelled and very red.

"I'll take you to the hospital." Naruto just nodded dumbly as he watch Sasuke move about inside his apartment. He cursed himself for being clumsy and stupid to get himself hurt despite being an adult.

* * *

Neji slammed the door of his car a little roughly, surprising several servants around the parking space. Work had been hectic and there was another business trip schedule for another two weeks.

It has been a month since his final break up with Naruto, the wound still fresh in his heart – the memory still fresh inside his head. He knew Uchiha Sasuke, his name, his position, his fame – his reputation.

The guy had never been reported being involved with anyone – one proof that he had always been a serious and gentle man. Most women with the same fame always expressed how much they wanted someone like the youngest Uchiha to be their future husband. However, there was never a single news about him being seen with any woman, let alone dating anyone.

He might have learned the answer to that when he was told that the guy and Naruto were going out with one another.

Sasuke was perfect, and Naruto had never been less perfect in his eyes. They look good together; like the moon and the sun.

With his last encounter with Naruto, he thought he felt a bit of hope that the blonde might still be in love with him and that there was still that little chance about them getting together once more.

Uchiha Sasuke had burst his bubble.

Remembering how the raven's hand caressed Naruto's back while trying to keep him away from Neji, the brunette clicked his tongue – unaware about a pair of brown eyes watching him make his way to his room.

Kurasawa Manami gently closed the sliding door of the room when she was sure the brunette was out of ear shot. She has been living in the Hyuuga household since the day Neji acknowledged his son with her. Though the guy didn't lack any care towards the child, she never went to the regular check up with him.

She couldn't. Rather, she shouldn't.

She was strictly ordered by the Hyuuga head to stay as far away from Hyuuga Neji as possible – so the secret won't be revealed.

She smirked, then touched her stomach with her right palm – her stomach with no human ever growing inside.

Yes. She wasn't pregnant. It was a fraud.

She was hired by the Hyuuga's to stand between Neji and Naruto – as they see the blonde an obstacle for Neji's company succession.

Hyuuga Neji was supposed to be wed with some lady of another distinguished family by next year. The brunette have been keeping the secret from Naruto, but he had always been fighting against the _fate_ his family always spoke of – his fate of being the next successor of the Hyuuga head. He knew that his family couldn't stop him if they ever corner him to choose between Naruto and his clan – he would've chosen Naruto over anything else.

Manami was the first daughter of the Sasagawa main family. Sasagawa's reputation may seem paler than the Hyuuga's and the Uchiha's, but they were still one of the richest clan among the country. Her father ordered her to go by the name Kurasawa as the Hyuuga's will to have her wed with Neji.

She had always admired Hyuuga Neji since childhood but didn't get to be near the guy because of Uzumaki Naruto. She hated the jerk. That damn homo. He dare lay his hands on Hyuuga's heir. He must have been after the brunette's money.

She had planned to do things to Uzumaki Naruto, like hire a couple of gay men to flirt with him and seduce him, but they would always fail.

When she was asked by the Hyuuga clan to get in between Naruto and Neji, she didn't let the chance slip. She finally able to lay her hands on Neji but was disappointed that their deed didn't come into fruition. She was sleeping around after all while taking pills and if she knew she would be able to get into Neji's pants that day, she would have stopped taking the pills so she'd really get pregnant.

That was the only mistake she did. So she decided to make Neji lose his composure again and maybe get him to make love to her again so this time it would definitely create a life inside her.

She was desperate.

After making sure that Neji had finally entered his room, she snuck out of the house as usual to go out with her friends. She had been doing this almost every night because she couldn't get out during the day - that was what she was ordered to do so Neji won't find out.

The bar she went to was the same bar where he met and flirted with him. she doubted that the guy would even dare lay a foot in this place. She had fun like usual and drunk as much as she wanted. When the night ended, she stumbled out of the bar and into the streets, hailing a taxi. She was about to get inside one when strong arms grabbed her shoulder and spinned her body a bit forcefully.

Her eyes went wide in shock. She was suddenly sober as she look straight into blue orbs of none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

"What… are you doing here?"

* * *

Naruto just sent another flirty message to Sasuke after receiving one from the raven. They have been going out for almost a month now. Sasuke had always been so sweet with his messages, but Naruto felt that he was getting sweeter and sweeter every time.

Karaoke became one of their weekly routines. Singing love songs for each other while holding hands inside the small room, Naruto couldn't get any happier.

Thoughts about Neji became lesser and lesser and the blonde was thinking that he'd be able to talk with the guy normally again if they ever met in the future.

He just got out of the Izakaya* he and his officemates went into after their busy office day.

As he put his mobile phone inside his pocket, he looked left and right before crossing the streets. When he looked straight ahead, he saw a familiar face. The person was walking wobbly while hailing a taxi. He couldn't believe his eyes as he examine the girl.

She was wearing simple above-knee long and tight black dress and… her stomach was flat.

He felt his heart race at the different scenarios that flashed in his mind – several reasons popped up as to why he couldn't see any bump on the supposed to be pregnant woman.

He ran desperately, reached out to grab the girl and spun her around.

It was really her.

Manami's body shook as she recognized the realization on Naruto's face.

She tried to shake the tanned hands off her arms but it was too strong it wouldn't budge. She saw Naruto's teeth clenched inside his tightly closed lip, fists balled in a tight grip – shaking. He looked like he wanted to punch someone but was trying his best not to raise a hand against a girl.

She was found out. Luckily, though, it wasn't Neji who saw her.

She smirked, causing Naruto to lose his composure and she was able to free her arm from his grasps. Damn, it will definitely bruise.

She looked at the blonde, all the hurt and confusion filling his blue orbs. She crossed her arms over her voluptuous chest and huffed out a breath.

"So? What will you do now that you found out? Gotta get back to Neji-sama again?"

Naruto's eyes twitched. With eyes on the verge of tears, he looked at Manami. She looked really, ugly. He couldn't see her face, couldn't make out her expression. All he could see was a face full of stain, ugly stain, and that ugly grin.

He was tricked by this girl.

What he wanted to know the most was if Neji knew about this. Have they been fooling him? Did Neji trick him just to betray him? Did Neji trick him?

 _Is it really already over between the two of us?_

Naruto's chest felt heavy with unwanted pain and hope.

 _He looks like he would take very good care of you_.

He tried his best to ignore those last words Neji silently mouthed that last moment they met.

 _Goodbye._

No. Neji wouldn't trick him like this. It must be this woman.

There was never a child between them. He was tricked. Neji was tricked. Both of them were tricked.

And they both loved each other before that.

He could just go to Neji, tell him the truth, and they could go back to each other again.

It would become perfect again.

He smiled a bitter smile, making Manami frown.

"Neji…"

* * *

Author's Note:

Hello everyone!

It really has been a while since I last updated my stories, huh?  
I apologize from the bottom of my heart.

Business trips sucks!  
Anyone agree?

I might make some revisions in this chapter later on, bear with me please? 

Thanks!

See you on the next chapter!


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